Paris Olympics organisers apologise for 'The Last Supper' parody tableau at opening ceremony

Earlier, the show's artistic director Thomas Jolly said that it wasn't his wish to be subversive, mock or shock, but to send a message of love and inclusion.

Published on: Jul 28, 2024, 16:57:30 IST

By HT News Desk

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Organisers of Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday apologised to Catholics and other Christian groups following a global outrage triggered by a parody tableau of 'The Last Supper' painting featuring drag queens during the opening ceremony of the games.

The tableau recreated the renowned painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, portraying a biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before the crucifixion.

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Communications manager for the 2024 Games, Anne Descamps, told the reporters, “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance.”

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The tableau recreated the renowned painting by Leonardo Da Vinci, portraying a biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before the crucifixion. The recreated version of this artwork featured drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and drew dismay from the Catholic Church, reported news agency Reuters.

Spokesperson Descamps said, “We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry.”

Earlier, the show's artistic director Thomas Jolly said that it wasn't his wish to be subversive, mock or shock, but to send a message of love and inclusion without any agenda to divide, reported PTI.

The French Catholic Church's conference of bishops described the performance as “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity”. They added that their thoughts are with all the Christians who were hurt by certain scenes in the portrayal.

US billionaire and owner of X, Elon Musk called the tableau “extremely disrespectful to Christians”.

Matteo Salvini, Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Italy slammed the opening ceremony on social media platform X. He wrote, “Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians around the world was a really bad start, dear French people.”

(with inputs from news agencies)

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