Organizers apologize after church groups criticize alleged ‘Last Supper’ parody during opening ceremony

By Matias Grez and Chris Liakos, CNN

(CNN) — Organizers of the Paris Olympics have apologized for what some critics described as a parody of “The Last Supper” during the lavish opening ceremony on Friday.

The scene featured drag artists and dancers and was widely criticized by the Catholic church and Christian groups.

The French Catholic Church said the festivities “included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity.”

“There was clearly never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told a news conference on Sunday.

“On the contrary, I think we tried to celebrate community, tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we’re of course really sorry.”

While the scene has come under criticism, the opening ceremony was also widely praised, with some people pointing out that the scene was more reminiscent of other works, like “The Feast of the Gods” by Johann Rottenhammer and Jan Brueghel.

Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, insisted that “The Last Supper” – a mural painted by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci – wasn’t the inspiration behind the scene in an interview with CNN affiliate BFMTV on Sunday.

“Dionysus arrives at the table because he is the Greek God of celebration and that sequence is called ‘festivity,’” Jolly said.

“The God of wine, which is also a French jewel and father of Sequana, the Goddess linked to the River Seine. The idea was to create a big pagan party in link with the God of Mount Olympus — and you will never find in me, or in my work, any desire of mocking anyone.”

In a post on X, formerly known as Twitter, the official Olympics account said the “interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”

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