As we’ve been reporting, the Paris Olympics opening night ceremony was at various times lewd, insulting, and downright boring. (That being said, I’ll give them some credit: the Eiffel Tower laser show was great, as was Celine Dion’s performance.)
The show caused widespread outrage, with much of it directed at a group of performers mocking Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic “The Last Supper” painting, and now the organizers are apologizing—sort of. The show’s director weakly tried to argue that it had nothing to do with “The Last Supper”:
The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly had distanced his scene from any “Last Supper” parallels after the ceremony, saying it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
Organizers laughably claimed that it was “clearly” not meant to offend anyone, although, to many viewers, it was “clearly” intended to do just that.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news 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 said. “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.”
Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press after the ceremony.
“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” Jolly said. “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
Yeah, sorry, no one believes that claptrap. The show was clearly intended to provoke, and provoke it most certainly did, even in France. Here’s Marion Maréchal, a member of the European Parliament:
Reaction to the ceremony came from around the globe:
Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — flanked by drag artists and dancers.
Religious conservatives from around the world decried the segment, with the French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops deploring “scenes of derision” that they said made a mockery of Christianity — a sentiment echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova. The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its “deep regret” Sunday, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to “lose its distinctive sporting identity and its humanitarian message.”
Related: The Backlash Continues: Tech Company Pulls Ads From Olympics As Boycott Movement Grows
House Speaker Mike Johnson Disgusted at ‘Shocking and Insulting’ Olympics Opener
The organizers of the event are not sorry, and their claims that they didn’t want to offend ring hollow. They did exactly what they intended, which was to shove their divisive message down the throats of millions of viewers who wanted to see spectacle, not political posturing. Although viewership was predicted to be low for these games, the opening ceremony drew in an estimated 28.6 million sets of eyeballs, which is the most since 2012. The question is: will some of them now turn away?
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee wasn’t buying the apology and posted this on Twitter/X Sunday:
“IF” it offended anyone is NOT an apology. It’s a declaration that they thought it was fine. This pathetic statement makes it worse. Imagine the backlash if the Olympics had mocked Mohammed and Islam. Mark me down as not impressed with the “apology.”
I suspect many feel the same way.
