Former United States President Donald Trump has voiced his disapproval of the “controversial” Opening Ceremony at the Summer Olympics in Paris, France, which took place on Friday.
The lengthy four-plus-hour event featured a segment involving French drag queens, which some viewers perceived as mimicking the “Last Supper.” However, it was later clarified that the intention was to depict a Greek pagan feast.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. The opening ceremony tried to celebrate community tolerance,” Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told reporters, according to Reuters. “We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”
Trump, among those who found the segment offensive, labeled the ceremony as disgraceful. “I thought that the opening ceremony was a disgrace, actually,” Trump expressed on “The Ingraham Angle” on Fox News. “I thought it was a disgrace.”
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Thomas Jolly, the director of the opening ceremony, addressed the controversy on French TV station BFMTV, clarifying that the “Last Supper” was not his inspiration. “It’s not my inspiration,” he explained. “There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration in Greek mythology. The god of wine who is one of the jewels of France. And the father of Sequana, the goddess who is connected to the river, the Seine. The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus.”
Jolly emphasized his intention was not to offend but to honor the values of liberty, equality, and fraternity. “You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone. I wanted to make a ceremony that repairs, that reconciles, and also that reaffirms the values ??of our Republic: liberty-equality-fraternity.”
Trump also made comments about the upcoming 2028 Olympic Games, which will be held in Los Angeles. “We won’t be having a Last Supper as portrayed the way they portrayed it the other night,” he stated. “I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was terrible. Look, I’m for everybody. I’m very open-minded… but I thought what they did was a disgrace.”
The differing perspectives on the ceremony underscore the challenges of creating events that resonate positively across diverse audiences. As the world looks forward to future Olympic Games, the conversation about cultural sensitivity and inclusivity remains vital.
