Olympics Organizers Deny ‘Last Supper’ Reference in Opening Ceremony: ‘Never an Intention to Show Disrespect to Any Religious Group’
In a glitzy opening ceremony that was meant to celebrate diversity, the Paris 2024 Olympics has ignited a firestorm of religious controversy. The organizers found themselves in hot water over a tableau that seemed to evoke Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” — with a decidedly modern twist.
The scene, set against the backdrop of the river Seine, featured drag queens, a transgender model, and a singer costumed as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine. While intended to raise awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” according to the organizers, it struck a sour note with religious groups worldwide.
More from Variety
Reacting to the controversy over the weekend, the Olympics and Paralympics’ artistic director Thomas Jolly denied that “The Last Supper” even served as a reference in an interview with French outlet BFMTV. Instead, Jolly said the idea was to “have a grand pagan festival connected to the gods of Olympus.”
“It was pretty clear, is It is Dionysus who arrives at the table. Why is he there? Because Dionysus is the Greek god of festivities (…) and wine, and is the father of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine river,” he said.
Anne Descamps, spokesperson for Paris 2024, told reporters at a press conference that “clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group.” “We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are really sorry,” per AP.
The Catholic Church in France didn’t mince words, stating it “deplored a ceremony that included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.” The controversy even reached the Vatican, with Archbishop Charles Scicluna contacting France’s ambassador to Malta to complain about the “gratuitous insult,” according to The Guardian.
The backlash wasn’t limited to religious circles. Political figures also weighed in, with Italy’s far-right leader Matteo Salvini describing the segment as “squalid,” and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orbán speaking of the “moral void of the west,” The Guardian reported.
Mike Johnson, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, also did not pull his punches. Posting on X, Johnson described the tableau as a “mockery of the ‘Last Supper'” that was “shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world.”
Jolly defended the concept. “We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he said.
Maud Le Pladec, the choreographer of the opening ceremony and head of dance on the other Olympics and Paralympics ceremonies, told Variety that she, Jolly and the rest of the team, started working on the creation of this ceremony in January 2023 and “hadn’t imagined what happened with the rise of the far right.” “We’re not psychics,” she says.
“When the political climate got more tense, we decided to maintain our plans for this ceremony and told ourselves that no matter what happened, this event would be a marker of where we were before and that it might confront itself to those forces,” she says.
“When the far right lost out, I thought to myself that this opening ceremony was prophetic because its message is that after all the tumults, France ends up uniting all those who love each other, and that was our ultimate message: to love and understand each other regardless of differences. That’s why we ended with [Edith Piaf’s] ‘Hymne à l’Amour’ (sang by Celine Dion). It was a healing ceremony. That’s our France.”
As the Games progress, officials are working overtime to redirect focus to athletic achievements and are already preparing the closing ceremony which will bring more top-tier performers, following the footsteps of Dion and Lady Gaga.
Best of Variety
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
