Paris Olympics organizers apologize for “The Last Supper” tableau: “There was never an intention to show disrespect”

The organizers behind the Paris Olympics apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” during Friday’s opening ceremony and provoked outrage by religious conservatives around the world. The organizers, however, defended the concept behind it.

Da Vinci’s painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday’s ceremony on the Debilly Bridge featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon who calls herself a “love activist.” Butch was wearing a silver headdress that looked like a halo as she got the party going on a footbridge across the Seine. Drag artists, dancers and others flanked Butch on both sides.

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.”

Prominent French far-right politician Marion Maréchal denounced the performance on social media.

“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 the social platform X, a sentiment that was echoed by religious conservatives internationally.

In Romania, controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate were part of a protest against the Olympics next to the French embassy in Bucharest on Sunday. The Tate brothers criticized the Olympic Games for mocking Christianity during the opening ceremony and called on athletes to boycott.

Andrew Tate is awaiting trial in Romania on charges of allegedly forming an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape.

The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly 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. 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.”