Paris Olympics organisers apologise for opening ceremony’s ‘Last Supper’ scene

The bawdy segment, which involved dancers, drag queens and a mostly naked figure covered in blue paint, was decried by religious and conservative groups.

Philippe Katerine, the French singer-songwriter who appeared naked and painted blue. He was supposed to be a representation of Dionysus, the Greek god of winemaking.

The organisers of the Paris Olympics issued a brief apology on Sunday after coming under heavy criticism from religious groups and conservative politicians for including a bawdy scene in Friday night’s Opening Ceremony that resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s “Last Supper.”

The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France had decried it as a “mockery.” “There was never an intention to show disrespect to a religious group,” a Paris 2024 spokeswoman said. “If people have taken any offence, we are, of course, really sorry.”

The tableau in question, on the Debilly Footbridge across the Seine, involved a group of dancers and drag queens arrayed along one side of a banquets table, including DJ Barbara Butch — described by organisers as an “LGBT icon.”

The scene continued with a mostly naked figure, painted blue and portrayed by performer Philippe Katerine, singing a raunchy song in character as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.

A restored version from the original painting The Last Supper by Leonardo da Vinci, 1495.

“The banquet table is transformed into a dance floor to showcase a variety of dance styles, ” according to Paris 2024’s own description of the scene. “While on the barge, the choreographic ensemble performs to the sound of Eurodance.”

While many saw the whole production as a stylised celebration of diversity, Paris’s vibrant night-life, and high French farce, it didn’t take long for critics to seize on it, including the Catholic Church, French far-right politician Marion Maréchal-Le Pen and Elon Musk.

“This was extremely disrespectful to Christians,” Musk wrote on X.

Last night’s mockery of the Last Supper was shocking and insulting to Christian people around the world who watched the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.

The war on our faith and traditional values knows no bounds today. But we know that truth and virtue will always… pic.twitter.com/s88c9ymG9j

— Speaker Mike Johnson (@SpeakerJohnson) July 27, 2024

To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 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. #notinmyname

À tous les chrétiens du monde… pic.twitter.com/GusP2TR63u

— Marion Maréchal (@MarionMarechal) July 26, 2024

Without referring specifically to the banquet, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of France said on Saturday that certain elements “made Christianity the subject of derision and mockery, which we deeply deplore. This morning, our thoughts are with all Christians of all continents, who were offended by the outrageousness and provocation of a few scenes.”

Archbishop Charles Scicluna of Malta wrote in a social-media post that he had sent messages to the French ambassador to Malta “expressing my distress and the disappointment of many Christians at the gratuitous insult to the Eucharist during the Opening Ceremony.”

The incident wasn’t the only headache the Games were dealing with over the weekend. On Sunday, the plan to have the swimming leg of the triathlon in the Seine this coming week came under threat as high bacteria levels caused by heavy rain forced organisers to cancel a practice session in the river.

But the fate of a few triathletes hardly made as much noise as the controversy over the Opening Ceremony.

For many left-leaning French, the ceremony represented a cri de cœur for multiculturalism that had been pushed to the margins of public discourse for months as France’s snap elections revolved around the anti-immigrant sentiment championed by far-right leader Marine Le Pen.

“The idea was not to be subversive — I wanted to send a message of love, of inclusion,” French Artistic Director for the Opening and Closing Ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games Thomas Jolly said. Picture: Joel Saget/AFP

Thomas Jolly, the creative director behind the extravaganza, stood by his vision for Friday’s lavish festivities, which drew NBC’s highest television ratings since London 2012. He had been given a free hand by Paris 2024 to create an unprecedented public spectacle as athletes paraded down the Seine on boats. His other vignettes for the ceremony included a cabaret performance by Lady Gaga, a tableau of decapitated Marie-Antoinettes set to heavy metal music, and the closing solo by Celine Dion on the Eiffel Tower.

“The idea was not to be subversive — I wanted to send a message of love, of inclusion,” Jolly said. “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that.”

Jolly added that “in France there’s freedom of artistic expression.” Paris 2024 CEO Tony Estanguet also defended the ceremony as a proudly over-the-top display of Frenchness.

“The idea was to really trigger a reflection,” he said. “Naturally we had to take into account the international community. Having said that, it is a French ceremony for the French games, so we trusted our artistic director … We have freedom of expression in France and we wanted to protect it.”

The dinner scene wasn’t the only tableau that generated controversy. Tensions were already high heading into the show after Le Pen lashed out at organisers for selecting Franco-Malian musician Aya Nakamura to sing at the ceremony, describing her as vulgar and not singing in proper French.

Crowds were stunned when Nakamura took the stage with the facade of the venerable Institute of France, the seat of the official guardians of the French language, rising in the background. Nakamura shimmied with a group of dancers — all dressed in golden outfits that echoed the Institute’s iconic gold-leaf dome.

Nakamura afrobeats melody was accompanied by the marching band of the country’s republican guard, a symbol of law and order, which then joined her in a dance move or two.

President Emmanuel Macron seized on the moment of cultural fusion as the embodiment of his own attempts to find a middle ground between France’s highly polarised political parties. The president swiftly tweeted a terse expression in French that has become his go-to phrase in debates: En même temps. It means “at the same time.”

The Wall Street Journal