The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has removed a video of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris from its YouTube channel after committee officials faced a global backlash over the ceremony’s LGBTQ-themed parody of “The Last Supper,” which was widely viewed as blasphemous by Christians.
As of Sunday, a 26-minute video titled “LET THE GAMES BEGIN! | #Paris2024 Opening Ceremony Highlights” on the Olympics’ YouTube channel was unavailable, with the comments section under the link closed. The same goes for a similar video on the YouTube channel of NBC Sports, the official U.S. Olympic broadcaster. The IOC did not explain its reasons for the move.
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The video was apparently removed after numerous politicians, social media users and influencers expressed outrage over its footage, which features a group of drag queens, gays and transgender people posing at a table that resembles Jesus Christ and the Apostles from Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
Facing criticism, Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Decquin apologised, saying “there was clearly no intention of disrespecting any religious community” and that the ceremony “was intended to celebrate the community’s tolerance”.
She added: “We believe this ambition has been achieved and we are truly sorry if anyone was offended.”
With videos showing the controversial scenes removed and comments banned, Olympic enthusiasts flocked to videos of previous opening ceremonies, such as those from London in 2012 and Sochi in 2014, to reminisce about their successes and express frustration with Paris.
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Meanwhile, the official Olympic page posted a message to social media users on X (formerly Twitter): [of the ceremony] “Which is your favourite?” the question sparked a new wave of criticism, with reviews of the event ranging from “utterly awful”, “disgraceful” and “disgusting” to “blasphemous” and “a bizarre show”.