2024 Paris Olympics Organizers Apologize For ‘Offensive’ Opening Ceremony, Largest Sponsor Pulls Advertising For ‘Unacceptable Mockery’
The organizers of the 2024 Paris Olympics are responding to backlash following what fans called an "offensive" opening performance.
Aside from enraged viewers, one of the largest sponsors of the Paris Olympics quickly pulled their advertising due to what they deem an "unacceptable mockery" of the Christian account of Jesus' 'Last Supper.'
C-Spire — the largest privately-held wireless provider in the USA — declared that they would not stand by the mockery and are pulling out altogether.
We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics.
— C Spire (@CSpire) July 27, 2024
"We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics," the company penned on Twitter, now X, early Saturday. The post hit over 9 million views and received a flood of positive responses.
"Have never been more proud of a company. Thank you for representing the values of your customers," a fellow X user replied. "I will be contacting you very soon about my wireless service!" another commended.
'Deuce Bigalow' star Rob Schneider publicly boycotted the event, Donald Trump Jr. called the fiasco "satanic," Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker called the drag queen recreation "crazy," and countless fans expressed outrage across social media.
The artistic director of the opening ceremony, Thomas Jolly, claimed that the scene wasn't meant to be "subversive or shock people or mock people" in a statement at the International Olympic Committee's daily briefing Saturday. During an appearance on French news channel 'BFM-TV,' Jolly maintained that "The Last Supper" was "not my inspiration."
"There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. 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," he said, per 'USA Today.'
On Sunday, Paris Olympics' spokesperson Anne Descamps apologized to viewers who were offended.
RELATED: Billy Mays Honored With OxiClean At His Gravestone 15 Years After His Death
"Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think [with] Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance. Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are, of course, really, really sorry," she stated per the news outlet.
The 2024 Paris Olympics is set to last for 19 days of competition through August 11.
