Paris mayor launches attack on far-right, church over opening ceremony

Paris: The mayor of Paris has launched an extraordinary attack on religious leaders and conservative politicians who voiced their outrage at the Olympic opening ceremony, defending the director and the artists who have faced death threats and online abuse.

In an interview with French newspaper Le Monde, published on Tuesday, Anne Hidalgo said: “F--- the reactionaries, f--- this far right, f--- all of those who would like to lock us into a war of all against all.”

Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo (centre), with actor Sharon Stone and Prince Albert II of Monaco at the athletics.Credit: Getty Images

A scene during the four-hour ceremony appeared to parody Renaissance painter Leonardo Da Vinci’s The Last Supper – a biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion. It was performed by a group of drag queens, a transgender model and a near-naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus. It was set to music by lesbian activist DJ Barbara Butch.

Catholic and conservative Christian groups as well as right-wing political leaders worldwide, including former United States President Donald Trump and Hungary’s Prime Minister Viktor Orban, criticised the scene as tasteless and blasphemous.

Much of their vitriol has been directed at the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, and at Butch, who participated in the performance. French authorities have opened an investigation into death threats towards the pair.

Paris 2024 organisers said they were sorry and had no intention of showing disrespect towards any religious group. Jolly also said that religious mockery had not been his intention and that the scene was supposed to depict a pagan feast linked to the gods of Olympus.

Hidalgo told Le Monde she was proud of how the opening ceremony presented Paris to the world.

“There is both admiration for this incredible city, which not many people understand, and at the same time the orchestration of a hatred of Paris. Why? Paris is the city of all freedoms, the city of refuge for LGBTQI+ people, the city where people live together,” she said.

The Socialist Party mayor, who unsuccessfully contested the past French presidential election, described the opening ceremony and the Games as an incredibly successful.

“The far right’s messaging has been crushed by these Games and by the opening ceremony,” she said. “Something incredibly positive is happening.”

French President Emmanuel Macron also supported the artists behind the ceremony, praising their “audacity”, adding that the show made France proud.

Hidalgo, who has led the French capital since 2014, also used the interview to respond to her critics and anti-Parisian sentiment on the part of French people.

“There’s both admiration for this incredible city, which not many people understand, and at the same time orchestration of a hatred of Paris,” she said.

Hidalgo is a divisive figure in France, with critics attacking her push for anti-car initiatives and greener urban policy in the French capital. She drove the city’s plan to clean up the Seine in time for Olympic swim events, which was met with widespread ridicule.