The Paris Olympics organizers apologized profusely on Sunday for any offense their audacious and eccentric opening ceremony may have caused, but they maintained they had “never intended to show disrespect to any religious group”.
Several French bishops and Catholic organizations have denounced what they saw to be “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity” in Friday’s opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics, which was directed by theater director Thomas Jolly.
A sequence that featured dancers, drag queens, and a DJ in positions reminiscent of the Last Supper — the last meal that Jesus is supposed to have had with his apostles — has drawn criticism.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps stated, “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group.”
“If people have taken any offence, we are of course really, really sorry,” she said.
Jolly further denied drawing inspiration for his nearly four-hour production, which was set along the Seine River in pouring rain, from the Last Supper. The French actor Philippe Katerine played Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure, in the piece, which aimed to encourage tolerance of various sexual and gender identities. He looked nearly nude and was painted blue.
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One of the ceremony’s other memorable moments was when Marie-Antoinette, the French queen, emerged in a window of the Conciergerie, the building where she was imprisoned following the French Revolution of 1789, bearing a bloody, severed head and prepared for execution.
Afterwards, she and her husband Louis XVI were executed by the guillotine.
According to Descamps, a survey conducted by Harris on behalf of Paris Olympics 2024 revealed that the majority of French citizens were enthusiastic with the opening ceremony.
According to International Olympic Committee spokesman Mark Adams, American broadcaster NBC said that the parade was the most watched opening to an Olympics since London in 2012, while German broadcaster ARD claimed it was the most seen in 20 years.
The second full day of the Paris Olympics saw about 700,000 fans witness the Olympic Games competitions across Paris on Sunday.
