J.K. Rowling and Elon Musk have both been named in a criminal complaint filed to French authorities over alleged “acts of aggravated cyber harassment” against Algerian boxer and newl crowned Olympic champion Imane Khelif.

Nabil Boudi, the Paris-based attorney of Khelif, confirmed to Variety that both figures were mentioned in the body of the complaint, posted to the anti-online hatred center of the Paris public prosecutor’s office on Friday.

The lawsuit was filed against X, which under French law means that it was filed against unknown persons. That “ensure[s] that the ‘prosecution has all the latitude to be able to investigate against all people,” including those who may have written hateful messages under pseudonyms, said Boudi. The complaint nevertheless mentions famously controversial figures.

    • MermaidsGarden@lemmy.world
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      30 days ago

      Has she walked back or apologized for any of her bullshit? Last I could stomach to listen she was denying Nazi war crimes.

      • TankovayaDiviziya@lemmy.world
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        What fame does to you.

        The core theme of Harry Potter is about the power of love; and yet now she is being an insufferable, bigoted bitch. Wasn’t she also for accepting refugees but then when right-wingers told her to allow refugees to stay in her house, she went silent?

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          She ruined her IP, I used to look at death eaters as fascists and the good guys as people who were kind, welcoming, wacky, they transfigured, they were free to be whatever they wanted without having to prove their purity, now I’m not sure what she thinks death eaters are…and have to look at all the hidden stereotypes in the book in a different light.

          • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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            Not to shit on one of your favorite works of fiction but this is exactly why it’s a book for kids/teenagers. There are VERY FEW cases were the bad vs good is so black and white. Life is made up of shades of grey and as I’ve gotten older I’ve lost respect for writing that paints such a simple view of right and wrong. Without nuance either side can look at themselves as the good guy and the other as pure evil.

            • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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              But that nuance exists in the books, there are family ties that cut across faction allegiances, double agents, traitors, misunderstood people, ambiguous characters. However, faction construction and ideology is very reminiscent of 20th century european history, so there is a grounded sense of black and white, unless you consider elitism, classism, racism and gratuitous violence to subjugate others as something that can be seen in a good light, somehow.

              • Cosmonauticus@lemmy.world
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                But that nuance exists in the books, there are family ties that cut across faction allegiances, double agents, traitors, misunderstood people, ambiguous characters

                So there’s nuance in everything but the plot?

                So there is a grounded sense of black and white, unless you consider elitism, classism, racism and gratuitous violence to subjugate others as something that can be seen in a good light, somehow.

                Theres nothing grounded about magic Hitler. Hitler himself and the rise of nazi German had more nuance other than they were all just _pure evvviiiillll _. Works of fiction that have these black and white struggles between the knight in shining armor and the devil incarnate who wants to destroy the world lack depth. It’s easy to make yourself the good guys in Harry Potter when all you have to do is not be the devil. It’s like the old school Disney formula of pretty white and charming is good. Ugly, vaguely ethnic, and awkward is bad.

                I’m not going out in cloaks and masks killing minorities so I can’t be the bad guy. Making it harder for them to vote is no big deal. The death eaters go around killing unwarranted. There’s no way they’re pro-life like me. Clearly they’d love abortions! The Trans community is trying to corrupt and covert our kids just like voldemort! It’s literally that easy

                • Gsus4@mander.xyz
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                  Looks like you feel stronger about this than I do, buddy. I’m not close enough to being a fan to reply to all that :D Yeah, I guess abortion is a moral grey area…I don’t remember if that was in the book, but it would certainly have added some depth to it.

        • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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          Harry Potter is racist AF. Rowling named the black guy Kingsley Shacklebolt and the Asian girl Cho Chang. The books are pro-slavery too, and argue that if you free slaves they’ll turn to alcoholism. Rowling has always been a white supremacist.

          • sudneo@lemm.ee
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            There are a lot of layers of arbitrary interpretation here. Can’t we just stick to criticize opinions JKR actually expressed and is known to support, without having to make shit up? There are plenty of them anyway.

            P.s. Even in the worst case scenario, not every book is a manifest for what the author thinks. People are able to write stories that do not reflect their worldviews.

            • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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              She invented a world with race based slavery and only addressed it by normalizing the slavery whenever an outside took issue with it. It would have been easy to have the Weasleys be opposed to House Elves, but they also wanted one and the reader is suppose to feel pity that our poor, loving, relatable family can’t have a house slave.

              See, it’s little things like that, building up over time, while I quit half way though. Way too many “that was weird” moments for me.

              People are able to write stories that do not reflect their worldviews.

              Are you sure? Like, regardless of JK’s politics, where else is an author going to get ideas from? People are able to write characters that don’t reflect their world view, but the thesis of a story is going to reflect the writer’s beliefs and morals.

              • sudneo@lemm.ee
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                She invented a world with race based slavery and only addressed it by normalizing the slavery whenever an outside took issue with it. It would have been easy to have the Weasleys be opposed to House Elves, but they also wanted one and the reader is suppose to feel pity that our poor, loving, relatable family can’t have a house slave.

                This discussion is the kind of stuff I really don’t care about. I read the book when I was a kid and I remember clearly feeling for the injustice of elves being slave, cheering when Dobby was freed and for Hermione and her movement (she started one, I believe). So I am not sure what’s the point to discuss what the author “could have written” or what you think she meant you to feel when writing. These are both assumptions that I can’t even relate to, so they fit perfectly into what I was talking about: starting from “she is racist” and then trying to find bits and pieces in the books that can be used to support the claim.

                but the thesis of a story is going to reflect the writer’s beliefs and morals.

                Assuming this is true in every case, which is debatable, none of the stuff mentioned is the thesis of the book. In fact, I answered to a comment that was claiming she was a white suprematist based on character names and stuff like this. On the other hand, a HUGE role in the story is taken by the opposition to the “pure blood” movement (embodied by the main villain), and basically every positive character is or supports mixed-bloods (in English they are called mud-bloods? Not sure). To me this in complete anthitesis with white suprematism, but I would use neither to try to infer what JKR views are on race/society.

                My point is that in 7 books and thousands of pages you will find details that you can use to suggest her views are anything you want. The main plot of HP is generally a positive story, nothing that can be linked to racism, white suprematism etc. and so are the main characters. So why picking minor details or creative interpretations of the books instead of her actual words as JKR? Like yes, a transphobic, racist, whatever wrote a nice book series, possibly before becoming transphobia, racist etc.

                • TheTetrapod@lemmy.world
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                  You’re misremembering how the slavery plot goes, for what it’s worth. In Chamber of Secrets, yes, Dobby is meant to be a sympathetic figure who we’re happy is freed. However, following her pattern of “returning to a plot point that got pushback two books ago to justify it”, in Goblet we learn that Dobby is a little sicko for wanting freedom and payment, and Hermione’s efforts with SPEW (btw that’s slang for vomit in the UK} are consistently portrayed as misguided and naive.

                  I think it’s incredibly silly to suggest that you can’t make some judgements about an author based on literally a million words that they pulled directly out of their psyche. Another classic example is Joanne’s portrayal of women. If a woman is evil, she’s fat, mannish, and ugly. If a woman is good, she’s motherly and, in the case of Hermione, Luna, and Ginny, not like other girls. Nobody is really saying she was a hateful bigot while writing those books, but the seeds were certainly there.

            • MindTraveller@lemmy.ca
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              What JK Rowling has actually expressed is that when a black woman wins a medal for boxing, she is obviously a male, regardless of genetics, anatomy, endocrinology, the law, or her own personal history. Rowling thinks black women are below womanhood, and are only granted it by the grace of “real women” such as herself. She’s a white supremacist.

              • sudneo@lemm.ee
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                So there is no need to make triple jumps to infer her political stance based on elements in her books.

                I am glad we agree.

            • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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              She’s pretty racist, dude.

              Even the kindest interpretation there shows that she has some incredibly stereotypical concepts of black people.

              • sudneo@lemm.ee
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                I specifically suggested to use her actual opinions (like the shit she tweets) instead of making stuff up from the books.

                So I guess we agree…?

                • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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                  It seemed to me like you were disagreeing with the claim that she’s racist. If you were not, then yes, we agree.

        • Duamerthrax@lemmy.world
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          The core theme of Harry Potter is about the power of love

          Ground breaking stuff. No one has ever dared touch on such themes before. Truly a visionary. /s

          nah, she’s always been a terrible writer that only found success through her editor and media hype.

          • prole@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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            Fucking seriously. Like I get that people have nostalgia for the children’s books they read when they were younger, but most of us moved on and grew out of it.

            Adult Harry Potter fans are worse than Disney adults. It’s like they found a series of (again, children’s) books and decided they never had to read anything else.

    • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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      She never apologizes for anything. She just moves on as if she hadn’t said it if she’s called out.

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      These people never walk back their bullshit. When called out on it, they will double down. When proven wrong, they will change the topic. But they need to be seen as strong, and right. Admitting that you’re wrong or even apologising is neither - it’s weak, and it can create doubt. If they were wrong about this, then what else are they wrong about?

      They radicalise their followers with lies and falsehoods, and they can only keep that up if they are not seen as being wrong about what they say. They spread their lies with confidence and zeal, and if reality disagrees, then reality is wrong.

    • Ragdoll X@lemmy.world
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      I remember seeing a tweet of hers where she doubled down on this by linking to some right-wing blog that claimed Khelif has XY chromosomes. Not sure if she’s changed course ever since the lawsuit or if she decided to triple down.

      Edit: Looks like she was still tweeting about Khelif 6 days ago, but hasn’t tweeted since.

  • SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    I know it’ll never happen, I hope she wins and the court awards her one round each in the ring with each of these assholes.

  • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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    If anyone wants to know what Rowling said…

    On X, Rowling posted a photo of Khelif and Carini. In the photo Khelif looks like she’s patting a crying Carini on the back. But that’s not what Rowling sees.

    “Could any picture sum up our new men’s rights movement better?” Rowling posted. “The smirk of a male who’s [sic] knows he’s protected by a misogynist sporting establishment enjoying the distress of a woman he’s just punched in the head, and whose life’s ambition he’s just shattered.”

    Of course, once Rowling learned that Khelif is not a man, she apologized…. Ha. Just kidding.

    X user @YourAnonNews posted, “Imane Khelif should sue every single account and outlet saying she is trans. Assholes are putting her life at risk, it is illegal in her country to be trans. The continuance of the blatant trans lie continues unfettered on Twitter.”

    Rowling responded to this with, “The idea that those objecting to a male punching a female in the name of sport are objecting because they believe Khelif to be ‘trans’ is a joke. We object because we saw a male punching a female.”

    https://epgn.com/2024/08/12/creep-of-the-week-j-k-rowling/

    What a colossal shithead. I’m glad my daughter never got into Harry Potter so I don’t have to grit my teeth and pretend to enjoy it.

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      It’s interesting to combine this with trump’s “I say Kamala is not black” to conclude that in their worldview, people can’t just be free to determine what they are (which could be debated, I guess), but what is worst is that some special people think they have the right to determine what anyone else is and how to live their life based solely on their own whims. An aristocracy of buffoons.

      • orcrist@lemm.ee
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        Yes, exactly. The inconsistency is a consequence of the objective. Many people discriminate in order to gain or maintain personal power. Or to put it another way, in many situations it’s true that racist policies led to racist values, not the other way around.

        Of course this situation is not only about racism. It’s about mixing together several different kinds of discrimination. But the same rules apply.

      • Contravariant@lemmy.world
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        I won’t pretend that its popularity is in any way proportional to its quality, but I enjoyed it and so did many others so she must have done something right. Calling a work that many people enjoy trash just sounds a bit elitist to me.

        Feel free to call the author whatever you want though, at this point I’ve no respect left for her.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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        My wife really loved it. I saw the first movie with her and did not care for it. Then when my daughter was little, she had me start reading the first book to her. I thought it was really boring and my daughter must have too, because she lost interest after a few chapters. I’m not super into magical fantasy anyway, so it isn’t exactly my cup of tea, but my dad got a scholarship to a real prestigious English school which would be, I suppose, the “muggle” version of Hogwarts, and as the poor (and Jewish) kid, he got treated like utter shit by both students and teachers pretty much the whole time, so it’s what was on my mind the entire time I watched the movie and read the book. That didn’t help.

        • AnarchistArtificer@slrpnk.net
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          I enjoyed it when I was younger, but in the wake of Rowling coming out as a trash human, I’ve seen a lot of breakdowns of Harry Potter that highlight that it was actually never good. This YouTube video by Shaun is an extremely thorough breakdown of that stuff if anyone who liked the books read this. In hindsight, I’m shocked by how popular these books were, what with characters like Seamus Finnegan, an Irish character with a tendency to accidentally blow things up (!).

          I went to a university where they filmed a bunch of Harry Potter, and whilst the classism I saw was no doubt quite different to your dad’s experience, I think there’s a common core. Big, posh institutions like that like everyone to think that they’re meritocratic, but they’re just prestige machines fueled by classism and racism.

          • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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            Absolutely. In fact, that snobbery extended for him when he ended his schooling there. He decided to go to Sheffield and asked his headmaster for a recommendation and was told, “boys at this school go to Oxford or Cambridge.” He ended up getting into Sheffield eventually anyway. Fuck that guy.

        • 🐍🩶🐢@lemmy.world
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          I don’t think they did it in the later movies, but I watched the first one dubbed in Spanish and it was strangely better. I don’t even speak Spanish.

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    I hope that these nazi-adjacent so-called “gender criticals” finally see some consequences for their actions.

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      Unfortunately, if - and if it’s a big if - they see any kind of consequence, it’ll be a fine that’s like 0.01% of their yearly income.

      The ultra rich play by completely different rules than the rest of us.

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    Fuck Joanne, that asshole has been lawyer bullying UK citizens critical of her transphobia for years and I’m glad to see someone finally slap her ass with a lawsuit. I hope she gets taken to the cleaners.

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    Good. Lets hope all these olympic lawsuits are the death knell for twitter. Musk has turned it into nothing but a hellsite. Before he took over, shit like what JK Rowling spews would have gotten her permabanned from it.

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    Both Musk’s and Rowling’s encuntification has reached nuclear levels. They’re beyond help.

    I hope Imane wins. I hope for that more than I hope for world peace.

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    Conservatives want GENITAL INSPECTORS at School to be SURE your Daughter or Son is using the Right bathroom but also people who have Vaginas ARENT Female so why have Genital Inspectors again?

    • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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      Funny how the people who have a documented history of molesting kids now want to legalize it via “genital verification exams”

      • Clent@lemmy.world
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        But pizzagate!

        The number of people on the right who think the left are the child molestors is at least 23%. They literally think we’re Santanist worshiping pedophiles. The number of which are projecting their own pedophilia tendencies is non-zero.

        • A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world
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          I’d wager at least half of the pizza gate pushers/believers are people that at least have CSAM on their computers, if not actively harming children in their circle.

      • primrosepathspeedrun@lemmy.world
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        no but see its fine when they do it. raping children isn’t pedophilia, only consenting adults having their bodies do things I don’t like is pedophilia.

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    Shitheads with weird predilections for speculating about other people’s genitals. I hope she gets some justice but I doubt it.

    Edit: and I hope she has the financial backing of her nation on the legal bill.

  • MyOpinion@lemm.ee
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    Both of these people should be held accountable for the terror they brought to this person.

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    The same type of right-winger as JKR and EM now are used to accuse the Williams sisters of being men. The same type of right-winger JKR and EM now are used to accuse Michelle Obama of being a man.

    Strange how its mostly always women of colour who have these utterly baseless accusations leveled at them by right-wingers like JKR and EM. And when I say ‘strange’ I mean its not strange at all and is deliberate.

    • chatokun@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      Used to? Some of them don’t know how to stop. Alex Jones jumped violently on this train, and h3, his crew, and Rodger Stone were up until Kamala became the forerunner claiming either Hillary or “big Mike” would replace Biden. Then would diverge into making more terrible jokes about Michelle Obama for a while before getting back to the point.