Polish journalist suspended for calling ‘Imagine’ a ‘vision of communism’ during Olympic opening

WARSAW, Poland — The Polish state broadcaster on Saturday suspended a television journalist who, during the Olympic Games opening ceremony, reacted to a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” by saying it was a “vision of communism.”

TVP, the broadcaster, issued a statement Saturday saying that the journalist and sports commentator, Przemyslaw Babiarz, would not be allowed to comment on air anymore during this summer’s Games.

Lennon’s song asks to imagine no heaven or hell, no countries, and no possessions.

“This is a vision of communism, unfortunately,” Babiarz said during the grand opening ceremony along the Seine River in Paris on Friday evening — comments that immediately triggered controversy for those watching in Poland.

TVP said in its statement announcing his suspension: “Mutual understanding, tolerance, reconciliation — these are not only the basic ideas of the Olympics, they are also the foundation of the standards that guide the new Polish Television. There is no consent to violate them.”

State media has been an ideological battleground in Poland for years. It was used as a mouthpiece by the right-wing populists who governed Poland from 2015-23. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a centrist politician whose broad coalition took power in December, acted quickly to remove their control of the airwaves.

Conservatives and their allies still reeling from their loss of control of state media denounced the decision, among them conservative President Andrzej Duda and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki.

“The truth will defend itself! Your actions will be remembered and censorship will fail,” Morawiecki wrote on X.

Some commentators on the political left said they felt the punishment was too harsh.

Poland was under Soviet-imposed communist rule from the end of World War II until 1989, an era that still evokes great emotions.

Many of the same Polish conservatives also condemned the mixing of LGBTQ+ themes with a Last Supper tableau during Friday’s grand ceremony.