Paris Olympics organizers apologized Sunday to anyone offended by an image of drag performers that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” during the opening ceremony.
The scene during Friday’s ceremony featured LGBTQ+ icon, DJ and producer Barbara Butch flanked by drag artists and dancers.
Religious conservatives decried the segment, with the French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops deploring “scenes of derision” that they said made a mockery of Christianity. Complaints were also made by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova and the Anglican Communion in Egypt.
The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, claimed he meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps responded to that during an International Olympic Committee news conference on Sunday.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think (with) Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,” Descamps said. “Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.”
