Organizers for the 2024 Paris Olympics have apologized after receiving massive backlash over the first act at the Opening Ceremony in which men in drag allegedly acted out Leonardo da Vinci's famous "The Last Supper" painting.
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Per the New York Post:
"Da Vinci's painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday's ceremony featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — flanked by drag artists and dancers."
"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.'"
The backlash was swift and strong.
"Demonic," commented one user under a post on X reliving the Olympics Opening Ceremony.
"Turning it off to spend time with normal people," wrote another Olympics fan.
"That opening was horrendous," wrote a third. "You should be ashamed."
https://twitter.com/TheRicanMemes/status/1816998231978516893
Those comments seemed to sum up the feelings of many after the Olympics Opening Ceremony featured what some believed was an inordinate amount of drag queens and bearded ladies and the like.
Per The Associated Press:
[P]rominent 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.
"... because decapitating Habsburgs and ridiculising central Christian events are really the FIRST two things that spring to mind when you think of #OlympicGames," Eduard Habsburg, Hungary's ambassador to the Vatican, posted on X, also referencing a scene depicting the beheading of Marie Antoinette."
Even far-left publications such as the New York Times had an issue with the Opening Ceremony, though for different reasons, it seems.
"Everything about Friday's ceremony and broadcast worked to diminish the athletes," the outlet wrote. "Sitting in cheering clumps, sometimes three and four countries together, they looked like passengers on party boats competing to make the most noise, to signal that their country was having the most fun."
https://twitter.com/SpeakerJohnson/status/1817229481972473922
