Organizers for the Paris Olympics issued an apology to people who were left offended by an LGBTQ parody of the Last Supper during the opening ceremony.
Thomas Jolly, the artistic director for the Olympics opening ceremony, explained that he had “wanted to send a message of love” and inclusion, and did not have intentions “to be subversive.”
“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly told the Associated Press. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
The Last Supper display, seen during the Olympics opening ceremony, featured Barbara Butch, a DJ, producer, and LGBTQ activist in the middle, drag queens, and transgender performers on either side of her.
Opening of the Olympic in Paris features parody of Last Supper, starring transsexuals, homosexual men and… a little kid#Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/2j2XSf9ict
— ancient north eurasian solidarity (@UEurasier) July 26, 2024
In response to the parody of the Last Supper, the French Catholic Church’s Bishops’ Conference of France released a statement that the ceremony had “included scenes in which Christianity was mocked and ridiculed.”
“This ceremony unfortunately included scenes in which Christianity was mocked and ridiculed, which we deeply regret,” the organization said in its statement.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry and the Anglican Community in Egypt also came out criticizing the Olympics for the opening ceremony, according to the outlet.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Anne Descamps, a spokesperson for the 2024 Paris Olympics said in a statement, adding that they had tried to “celebrate community tolerance.”
Descamps added that if people were offended, they were “of course, really, really sorry.”
In addition to the Last Supper parody, the opening ceremony featured a dance display that showed women being “flung around on poles.” Another dance number featured three dancers, a woman and two men, who danced through the streets and were seen going up the stairs of a building, stopping as they began kissing. The three dancers were then seen entering a room as they continued kissing until the door was shut.
