Paris 2024 apologises over ‘Last Supper parody’ at Olympics opening ceremony

The controversial sketch angered the Catholic Church and many on social media, prompting the organisers to explain the logic behind the parody

The Paris 2024 organisers have apologised to Catholics and other Christian groups after some people interpreted a sketch during the Olympics opening ceremony on Friday night as being a parody of Leonardo Da Vinci's famous The Last Supper painting.

A kitsch tableau is said by some to have parodied the iconic painting, recreating the biblical scene of Jesus Christ and his apostles sharing a last meal before crucifixion, although this was denied by the man behind the event.

The sketch featured drag queens, a transgender model, a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and a child.

FOLLOW LIVE: Tennis, swimming and athletics action across Team GB and 2024 Olympics

The scene drew dismay from the Catholic Church, with the organisers explaining that the decision was motivated by a desire to achieve “community tolerance”.

But Italy's deputy prime minister Matteo Salvini branded the scene insulting and “sleazy”, adding: "Opening the Olympics by insulting billions of Christians across the world was a really bad start.”

“We imagined a ceremony to show our values and our principles so we gave a very committed message,” Paris 2024 president Tony Estanguet said. “The idea was to really trigger a reflection. We wanted to have a message as strong as possible.

“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.”

Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference: “Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance.

The Last Supper parody featured a naked singer made up as the Greek god of wine Dionysus (BBC)

“We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence, we are really sorry.”

Paris 2024 artistic director Thomas Jolly was left baffled by the negative reactions to the show and said the scene had not been inspired by The Last Supper and depicted a pagan feast linked to the gods of Olympus in order to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.

“Our idea was inclusion,” Mr Jolly said. “Naturally, when we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone questions are raised.

“Our subject was not to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive.

“We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together. We wanted to include everybody.

“In France, we have artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country.”

This article was amended on 29 July 2024 to include Mr Jolly’s denial that the scene had been based on The Last Supper, and to make it clear that this was some people’s interpretation of the tableau. The article had previously reported that it was a parody of the painting.