Olympic organizers’ decision to allow a drag queen parody of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies in Paris on Friday has cost them an American sponsor.
C-Spire, a Mississippi-based phone service company, posted a statement on Facebook Saturday announcing its intent to withdraw its advertising from the XXXIII Olympiad.
The post read, “We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling its advertising from the Olympics.”
Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves (R, MS) celebrated the telecommunications company’s decision.
“I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down,” Reeves wrote. “God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line.”
I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line. https://t.co/R38yJye97I
— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) July 27, 2024
Outrage over the sacrilegious display reached religious circles as well, as French bishops denounced the performance as “derision and mockery of Christianity” and voiced their solidarity with “Christians on all continents who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation.”
French politician Marion Maréchal took to social media to tell the world that the blasphemous display did not speak for France but was the product of a “left-wing minority.”
“To all the Christians of the world who are watching the Paris 2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking, but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation,” she posted on X.
As for those in the alleged minority responsible for the performance, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony, says the intent of the performance was not to offend.
“Our idea was inclusion,” Jolly told reporters. “Naturally, when we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone, questions are raised.
“Our subject was not to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together,” he added. “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that. In France, we have freedom of creation and artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country.”
