Paris Olympics organizers were being heavily blasted after millions across the globe felt offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” during the glamorous opening ceremony.
Many denounced the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, but it wasn’t just from other countries.
While the Opening Ceremony posted the best television ratings since the 2012 Summer Games in London, one family in France was horrified at what they were seeing.
Footage has surfaced showing a French family reacting to the opening ceremony scene and they were clearly horrified with what they were witnessing.
One woman in the video had her hands over her mouth while another man was frozen in place.
The performance got such negative reviews that even House Speaker Mike Johnson criticized the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics for featuring a drag queen parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s rendition of the Last Supper.
“Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games,” Johnson wrote in a post on X.
“The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always prevail,” he added.
Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker called the visual “crazy” on Instagram, and quoted Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked.”
Paris Olympics Organizers Apologize Over Offensive Opening Ceremony
A performance by the drag queens at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics garnered negative reactions across the globe.
The performance that got the most attention allegedly showed the enactment of Jesus Christ spending his last supper with his apostles just before his crucifixion.
The most notable moment was when a performer could be seen covered in blue body paint, with fruits around them, and he appeared to be half naked.
The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly made it clear the event was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said per ESPN. “Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press:
“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly said. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
