A member of the organizing committee of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, Anne Deschamps, apologized on Sunday for any offense that may have been caused by the opening ceremony of the Olympics, especially a scene that depicts the Greek god Dionysus alongside drag queens in the middle of a table.
The scene was a parody of the Last Supper by the famous artist Leonardo da Vinci about Jesus Christ, but with the Olympics version including LGBT members instead.
Deschamps said: “It is clear that we never intended to show disrespect to any religious group, and on the contrary I see that Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the ceremony, wanted to celebrate societal tolerance, and we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people felt any offense, we are very sorry for that.”
Jolly denied on Sunday that one of the performances was “inspired” by the painting of the Last Supper, following shock and outrage among far-right circles and the Catholic Church.
Joly told French news broadcast network BFMTV: “I have absolutely no desire to ridicule or distort anything. I wanted to have an opening ceremony that was reformative and reconciling, and that reaffirmed the values of our republic.”
With the growing criticism, the official video of the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympics has been removed from the tournament’s YouTube account.
The American company C Spire also decided to withdraw its advertisements from the Olympic Games, due to the mockery of the Last Supper during the ceremonies in Paris.
An Al-Azhar Al-Sharif condemned the scene, and warned in its statement on social media of the danger of exploiting global events to normalize mocking religion and promote LGBT ideals.
