Organisers of the Paris Olympics have been criticised for issuing a “non-apology” after causing outrage with a scene in the opening ceremony apparently mocking the Last Supper.
The scene during Friday’s ceremony depicted DJ and producer Barbara Butch flanked by drag queens and dancers in a scene reminiscent of Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting The Last Supper. However, Thomas Jolly—artistic director of the Olympic Games opening ceremony—denied that it was meant to parody the Last Supper, telling AP that it was supposed to pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
Jolly claimed he had “wanted to send a message of love” and inclusion. “My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” he told the AP. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
Other official responses, including Jolly talking to broadcaster BFMTV, have flat-out denied any resemblance whatsoever to the Last Supper. Instead, the tableau was said to depict a pagan feast, centred upon the ancient Roman god Dionysus.
However, the scene provoked outrage around the world and was denounced by French Catholic bishops while tech company C-Spire pulled all advertising from the Olympics.
The French bishops expressed deep regret over “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply deplore.”
“We thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity,” they added. “This morning, we think of all Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes.”
In a statement on social media, C-Spire said:
“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics.”
Meanwhile, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta said on X he had sent messages to the country’s French Ambassador expressing his “distress and great disappointment at the insult to us Christians.”
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was also asked about the outrage at a press conference on Sunday.
“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 claimed. “Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
However, Bishop Robert Barron, one of America’s best-known Catholic bishops, described this as “anything but an apology.”
In a video posted on X, formerly Twitter, Barron said the “so-called apology” was “patronising” and “condescending” towards Christians. He called it a “masterpiece of woke duplicity”
“Here’s some of the things that were said,” Barron continued, quoting directly from the statement. “‘Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,’ give me a break. So, we have a group of drag queens cavorting in a kind of sexually provocative way. Clearly, an imitation of da Vinci’s Last Supper.”
Barron added: “I love this, ‘We tried to celebrate community tolerance.’ Yeah, tolerance. Except, for those pesky 2.6 billion Christians on the planet, everyone’s welcome, everyone’s tolerated. All this lovely diversity, until you get to anyone that disagrees with your ideology, like these 2.6 billion people. So, don’t give me this business about tolerance and diversity.”
Other complaints relate to a performer’s exposed testicle during the tableau, and the presence of a child adjacent to the event’s scantily clad cast. Subsequently, footage was pulled from the official Olympic website (unlike 2016 and 2021, which can still be viewed). It has been reported that the organisers are also requesting copyright takedowns where the material appears on social media.
