Last Supper imagery at Paris Games offends Christians, organisers deny disrespect

A spokesperson says there was no intention to mock as Catholic groups condemn the opening ceremony of the Olympics

Opening ceremony choreographer Thomas Jolly on Sunday denied parodying the Last Supper in the outré launch of the Paris Games after religious groups decried what they felt was a “mockery of Christianity”. Organisers of the Games nevertheless apologised, saying there was no “intention to show disrespect to any religious group”. 

Organisers of the Paris Olympics said Sunday they were “really sorry” for any offence caused by their daring and quirky opening ceremony but denied “any intention to show disrespect to any religious group.”

Some Catholic groups and French bishops have condemned what they saw as “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity” in the parade on Friday choreographed by theatre director Thomas Jolly. Criticism has focused on a scene involving dancers, drag queens and a DJ in poses that recalled depictions of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have taken with his apostles.

“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps told reporters on Sunday. “If people have taken any offence, we are of course really, really sorry,” she added.

Jolly also denied taking inspiration from the Last Supper in his nearly four-hour production which took place under driving rain along the River Seine. The scene, intended to promote tolerance of different sexual and gender identities, also featured French actor Philippe Katerine who appeared almost naked and painted blue as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure.

“The idea was to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus,” Jolly told the BFM channel on Sunday. “You’ll never find in my work any desire to mock or denigrate anyone. I wanted a ceremony that brings people together, that reconciles, but also a ceremony that affirms our Republican values of liberty, equality and fraternity,” he added.

In one of the other striking moments of the ceremony, a woman holding a bloodied severed head and intended to be executed French queen Marie-Antoinette appeared in a window of the Conciergerie, a building where she was imprisoned after the 1789 French Revolution. She was later guillotined along with her husband Louis XVI.

“Certainly we were not glorifying this instrument of death which is the guillotine,” Jolly added.

Descamps said that Paris 2024 had commissioned a poll from survey group Harris which showed French people were overwhelmingly positive about the opening ceremony.

American broadcaster NBC said the procession was the most watched start to an Olympics since London in 2012, while German broadcaster ARD reported it being the most watched in 20 years, according to International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams.