The 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony aimed to be a celebration of unity and global harmony, but instead a performance meant to showcase cultural heritage ended up offending Christian and Catholic audiences, who believed the portrayal mocked the Last Supper. Organizers have since tried to clarify that the scene was intended to depict the ancient Greek feast of Dionysus, not a sacred Christian moment.
The Controversy
During the opening ceremony, a tableau featuring a long table with a group of diverse individuals, including drag queens and a central figure with a halo, closely resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting of the Last Supper. Christian leaders and communities expressed outrage on social media, accusing Olympic organizers of religious insensitivity.
Actress Candace Cameron Bure, whose husband is a two-time Olympic medalist, called the performance “disgusting.”
“(To) see the opening ceremonies completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting,” she said in an Instagram post July 28. “It made me so sad. And someone said, ‘You shouldn’t be sad. You should be mad about it.’ And I’m like, ‘Trust me. It makes me mad.’ But I’m more sad, because I’m sad for souls.”
Critics argued that the portrayal was a deliberate attempt to provoke and disrespect Christian traditions, with some even calling for boycotts of the games.
“I am sorry to say to ALL the world’s GREATEST ATHLETES, I wish you ALL THE BEST, but I cannot watch an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan. I sincerely hope THESE @Olympics get the same amount of viewers as @cspan,” wrote actor Rob Schneider on X.
I am sorry to say to ALL the world’s GREATEST ATHLETES, I wish you ALL THE BEST, but I cannot watch an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan.
I sincerely hope THESE @Olympics get the same amount of viewers as @cspan https://t.co/M7XAbcNVJq— Rob Schneider (@RobSchneider) July 28, 2024
Was It Actually the Last Supper?
Many social media users began to refute the claims that the scene was a portrayal of the Last Supper, sharing images of “The Feast of Dionysus,” which shows a similar scene a group of individuals gathered around a table with the Greek god lounging in a blue cloth on the right. The Olympics are Greek, so the tie-in seemed plausible.
On Saturday, the official X account for the Olympic Games shared images of the moment, clarifying that the scene was indeed meant to reference Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, fruitfulness and ecstasy.
The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings. #Paris2024 #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/FBlQNNUmvV
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) July 26, 2024
“The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” read a tweet from the official X account of the Olympics.
#OLYMPIC2024 will always be remembered because oversensitive Christians confused a Dionysus (Bachus) festival (a GREEK god, Greece where the OG began) with the Last Supper and confused Pegasus with a biblical white horse from hell. Stupidity knows no bounds!
Well done France! pic.twitter.com/hPUYpnBQnc— Rory 🇳🇱 🇪🇺 (@rory20s) July 28, 2024
When questioned about the backlash, the ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, emphasized that his intent was not to be subversive, mocking or shocking.
“We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that,” he explained. “In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are a republic; we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”
Appearing on French news channel BFM-TV on Sunday, Jolly reiterated that da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” was “not my inspiration.”
“There is Dionysus who arrives on this table,” Jolly clarified. “He is there because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology. The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”
Nevertheless, the narrative the the Olympics were mocking Christianity had stuck. And on Sunday, Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps issued an apology for any offense caused.
“Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,” Descamps stated during a press conference. “On the contrary, I think that Thomas Jolly really tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry.”
