Organizers of the opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics have apologized for a segment people perceived as drag queens recreating the Last Supper.
But orgaizers also said the Last Supper was not the inspiration for the tableau.
Anne Descamps a Paris 2024 spokesperson talked about it Sunday.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said, via Reuters.
“We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry,” she said.
The segment included drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer who resembled the Greek god Dionysus. People perceived the segment as making a mockery of the Last Supper, but the man behind it said that was not the case, Today reported.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director, said Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” was not his inspiration for the performance. In fact, it was not Christian at all.
Jolly explained further on French news channel BFM-TV Sunday
“There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration in Greek mythology,” Jolly said. “The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”
He also talked of it being a form of artistic expression.
“We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said. “In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”
The official X, formerly Twitter, account for the Olympic Games posted photos of the segment and referenced Dionysus, Greek god of wine-making, fruitfulness and ecstasy.
“The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” the post read.
Despite Jolly’s intentions, many viewed it as making a mockery of one of the most sacred events in Christianity.
This included House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.
“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,” he wrote.
Many others felt the same.
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