A crew of drag queens performed an apparent “parody of the Last Supper” at the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday, drawing intense criticism across social media.
“This is crazy. Opening your event by replacing Jesus and the disciples at the The Last Supper with men in drag,” Clint Russel, the host of the Liberty Lockdown podcast, fumed on X.
“There are 2.4 billion Christians on earth and apparently the Olympics wanted to declare loudly to all of them, right out of the gate NOT WELCOME,” said Russel.
During the show, a group of 18 performers struck poses behind a long table with the Seine River and Eiffel Tower poignantly placed in the background.
At the center was an ornately dressed woman with a large silver headdress that resembled a halo as depicted in paintings of Jesus. She smiled and made a heart shape with her hands as her peers stared down the camera, some slowly dancing.
To add to the “absurdity,” a massive serving tray was lowered onto the table — revealing a scantily dressed man, painted head to toe in sparkling blue, curled up inside.
The Olympics said the performance was an “interpretation of the Greek God [of wine and festivity] Dionysus” to make “us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
But social media users felt that the group was making fun of Christianity and even French politicians denounced the show.
Practicing Catholic Marion Maréchal took to X, saying: “To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation.”
Plenty of other social media users applauded the performance as historic, especially after it followed three drag queens carrying Olympic torches for the first time.
Artists Minima Gesté, Miss Martini and Nicky Doll participated in the ritual as the flame passed through France in May, with each saying the moment symbolized unity and peace.
Doll — the host of Drag Race France — and two other queens also appeared in the opening ceremony’s fashion/runway segment Friday.
The Olympic drag performance comes just one day after Presidential hopeful Kamala Harris became the first sitting vice president to appear on an episode of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.”