Monday, July 29, 2024 - Paris 2024 organiser, Anne Descamps has apologised to the Catholics and other Christian groups for any offence caused by religious depictions of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting with drag queens, a transgender model and a singer made up as the Greek god of wine.
The parody of the biblical scene, performed against the
backdrop of the River Seine, was intended to interpret Dionysus and raise
awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings”, organisers
explained on X.
The committee was forced to apologise after the performance
caused outrage among Catholics, Christian groups, and conservative politicians
around the world.
In a press conference on Sunday, Descamps apologised for any
offence caused and insisted that the ceremony intended to 'celebrate community
tolerance'.
'Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to
any religious group,' she said. On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly did try
to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was
achieved, if people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry.'
The International Olympic Committee later said in a
statement: 'The IOC has taken note of and welcomes the clarification given by
the Paris 2024 Organising Committee regarding the Opening Ceremony.
'In the daily press briefing, the Organising Committee said
that there was never any intention to show disrespect towards any religious
group or belief.
'They reiterated that their intention with the Opening
Ceremony was always to celebrate community and tolerance. The Organising
Committee also said that if anyone was offended by certain scenes, this was
completely unintentional and they were sorry.'
Sunday's apology came after thousands of social media users
threatened to boycott the Paris Games because of the opening ceremony.
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