ROME – Representatives of the Paris 2024 Olympics Committee have apologized to anyone offended by a drag parody of the Last Supper during the opening ceremony, insisting that their intention was to foster inclusion and celebrate diversity.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news conference Sunday, saying in response, “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,” she said, adding, “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.”
Thomas Jolly, the ceremony’s artistic director, in his own remarks to the Associated Press about the event said it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
“My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,” he said, saying, “Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
The apology was made in response to a wave of backlash from Catholics, members of other Christian communities, atheists, and members of other faith groups to the July 26 opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics, which featured a group of scantily clad men in drag dancing provocatively while parodying the Last Supper.
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At one point, the genitalia of a man wearing short black hotpants was exposed while a little girl stood in front of him, in front of what was supposed to be the table.
Catholic leaders from around the world, including the French bishops conference and two Vatican officials, condemned the incident, with at least one, Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta and adjunct secretary of the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, making a formal complaint to the French ambassador to Malta, encouraging others to do the same.
Some commentators in the wake of the controversy, including Jolly, have claimed that the performance was evocative of the feast of Dionysus, rather than the Last Supper, as a nod to the Greek roots of the Olympic games.
However, the artists who participated in the parody have confirmed in online social media posts and in comments to the press that the performance was, in fact, intended to imitate Leonardo da Vinci’s famed painting of the Last Supper.
Franch drag queen and rapper Piche from the show Drag Race France spoke to French media, saying the intention was to create a tableau of the Last Supper in the pouring rain.
“I received a lot of messages of support and people who were very happy that I was there and very surprised that there were drag queens at the opening ceremony,” he said, saying the opposition to the performance indicates that “we’ve succeeded and we’ve done what had to be done, that we’ve been fair and representative.”
“Art always divides. As long as it doesn’t move people, it’s not art for me,” he said, saying the depiction of the Last Supper “is not a provocation. It’s a biblical representation that has been reused in pop culture for decades and it’s never really been a problem.”
“There were no real provocations or anything that was truly obscene. We didn’t make fun of the painting at all … it’s really just because it’s queers and drag queens who use that representation that it bothers,” he said.
Similarly, Barbara Butch, a lesbian who donned a silver headdress and low-cut dress while portraying the figure of Jesus in the Last Supper parody, said the opening ceremony was intended to bring people together.
According to her Instagram profile, Butch is “a Love activist, Dj and producer based in Paris. My aim is to unite people, gather humans & share love through music for all of Us to dance & make our hearts beat (in unison)! Music sounds better with all of Us!”
Butch posted an image of the drag parody of the Last Supper above an image of Da Vinci’s original painting to her Instagram account with the comment, “Oh yes! Oh yes! The new gay testament!” The post was subsequently deleted.
Despite the Olympic Committee’s apology, many Catholic leaders and commentators have said it does not go far enough and fails to make amends for the offense give to the world’s 2.6 billion Christians.
In a July 28 video published on social media platform X, previously known as Twitter, Bishop Robert Barron of Winona-Rochester, Minnesota, founder of the popular Word on Fire ministry which is a benefactor of Crux, criticized the apology.
Barron, who had previously published a video condemning the Last Supper parody, said Descamps’ words were “anything but an apology.”
“In fact, it’s kind of a masterpiece of woke duplicity … If they felt this is meant to mollify Christians, I would think again,” he said.
Pointing to Descamps’s assertion that they did not intend to offend any religious group, Barron said, “Give me a break.”
“We have a group of drag queens cavorting in a sexually provocative way clearly in imitation of Da Vinci’s Last Supper, which presents to the world the Last Supper of Jesus, and no disrespect was meant? Do you think anyone takes that seriously?” he said.
He also took issue with the statement that the intention was to celebrate community and tolerance, saying there is tolerance “except for those pesky 2.6 billion Christians on the planet.”
“Everyone’s welcome, everyone’s tolerated, all this lovely diversity, until you get to anyone that disagrees with your ideology, like these 2.6 billion people. So don’t give me this business about tolerance and diversity,” he said.
Referring to Descamps’s statement that their goal of celebrating tolerance was achieved, Barron asked rhetorically, “I wonder what planet they’re living on if they think that harmony and peace and all this was achieved by this clear affront to Christians.”
Barron also condemned the wording of the apology as condescending, saying the tone does not read apologetic, but rather says, “if you’re so simple minded and stupid to have been offended by this wonderful expression of French culture, well, we’re sorry about that.”
“Christians were offended because it was offensive. And it was intended to be offensive. So please don’t patronize us with this condescending remark of, ‘well, if you had any bad feelings, we’re awfully sorry about that,’” he said.
This apology will do little to satisfy Christians who were offended by the performance, he said, saying, “A real apology would be something like, ‘this was a mistake, it should never have been done, we’re sorry for it.’”
“I don’t think Christians should be mollified, I think we should keep raising our voices,” he said.
Similarly, the German Bishops’ Conference published a statement Monday saying the argument by organizers that the scene was intended to depict Greek mythology “is not convincing,” as the sequence parodying the Last Supper “was shown around 45 minutes before the mythological scene,” in which a man dressed in a revealing blue jumpsuit appeared from a serving tray as Dionisius.
“It creates associations with the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which shows Jesus Christ surrounded by his disciples. This obvious interpretation is supported by statements from the participating artists,” the German bishops said.
While they reiterated their respect for artistic freedom and creativity, the bishops voiced their belief that “critical comments are appropriate and necessary when the representations touch on central elements of our faith and other religions and the religious sensibilities of believers are seriously violated.”
“In the weeks ahead, we hope for events in the spirit of fair competition and peaceful understanding between peoples and cultures. From now on, the focus should be on sport and the athletes whose achievements are the very essence of the Olympic Games,” they said.
This piece has been updated to include a statement from the German Bishops’ Conference.
Follow Elise Ann Allen on X: @eliseannallen
