Paris Olympics organizers are speaking out.
The officials apologized Sunday (July 28) to anyone who was offended by a drag-filled performance that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper during the opening ceremony over the weekend.
The painting, which depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him, was recreated featuring LGBTQ+ DJ and producer Barbara Butch, and various drag artists and dancers, including Drag Race France host Nicky Doll.
Religious conservatives and Republicans from around the world called out the segment, including the French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops, calling it “scenes of derision” that they said made a mockery of Christianity, via the New York Post.
The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its “deep regret” as well, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to “lose its distinctive sporting identity and its humanitarian message.”
The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps said: “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. 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.”
Nicky Doll also wrote about the segment: “I had a dream, and that dream came to life yesterday. I had the dream that France would represent its people to the fullest on the world’s biggest stage, biggest show: The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics. And thanks to so many amazing souls like @thoma.jolly @daphneburki @maudlepladec and many others, this happened. It was my absolute honor to perform in front of billions of people around the world, and celebrate our olympians. And remember, to the ones that had their feathers ruffled seeing queerness on their screen: WE AIN’T GOING NOWHERE ????????”
Watch part of the performance…
This is crazy. Opening your event by replacing Jesus and the disciples at the The Last Supper with men in drag. There are 2.4 billion Christians on earth and apparently the Olympics wanted to declare loudly to all of them, right out of the gate
NOT WELCOME pic.twitter.com/T88AmXbqXL— Clint Russell (@LibertyLockPod) July 26, 2024
