A US-based technology company has pulled its advertising for the Olympic Games in Paris, France, after determining that the ad during Friday’s opening ceremony made a “mockery of the Last Supper.”
The controversial opening ceremony featured a troupe of drag entertainers performing a show that at one point resembled Leonardo da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper.”
The official OlympX/Twitter account said the scene is actually an “interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus,” adding:[It] It makes us realize the absurdity of violence between humans.”
Despite explanations that it was not an imitation of the Last Supper, the performance has since sparked widespread controversy and condemnation, mainly from the American right, and sometimes from Catholic conservatives.
Now Mississippi-based communications and technology company C-Spire has admitted it was “shocked” by the performance and announced it will no longer advertise at the Olympics.
“We are shocked by the mockery of The Last Supper at the Opening Ceremony of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be withdrawing our advertising from the Olympics,” the company said.
“CSpire supports the athletes who have worked so hard to qualify for the Olympic Games, but we will not participate in the offensive and unacceptable mockery of The Last Supper, which is why we are pulling our advertising from the Olympics,” the company’s president and CEO Susie Hayes said in a statement.
It has not been disclosed how much C Spire paid for the Olympic ads, but the move has been widely supported by its US customers, including Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves.
Despite the controversy, opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolley defended the drag show’s inclusion.
“Our theme wasn’t to be disruptive. We didn’t want to be disruptive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity is about coming together,” Jolie said at a press conference.
“We wanted to involve everyone. That’s it. In France we have creative freedom, artistic freedom. We are lucky to live in a free country. There was no particular message I wanted to convey. France is a republic and you have the right to love who you want and the right not to be a cultist. In France we have a lot of rights. That’s what I wanted to convey.”
