Hollywood conservatives like Rob Schneider and Candace Cameron Bure have expressed outrage over the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics, which featured a tableau that appeared to evoke Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper,” but replaced the religious figures with women. The Catholic Church in France has also criticized the image as “a mockery and a mockery of Christianity.”
Schneider said in a post on X (formerly Twitter) that he would boycott the rest of the games in Paris because of the controversial painting.
“I regret to say to all the greatest athletes in the world that I wish you all the best, but I cannot watch an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan,” the comedian wrote. “I sincerely hope that these Olympics will have the same audience as C-SPAN.”
Schneider later posted a still from the scene and wrote: “Men with their penises dangling in front of kids?! Drag queens?! I wasn't sure if I was watching the Olympics or a school board meeting…”
The “Full House” alum expressed her anger in a video she posted to her Instagram account, saying: “Watching such an amazing, wonderful event happening over the next two weeks and seeing the opening ceremony completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with its interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting. And it made me so sad. And someone said, ‘You shouldn’t be sad. You should be mad about this.’ And I said, ‘Trust me. This makes me mad.’ But I’m sadder, because I’m sad for the souls.”
Olympic organizers said the section featuring the painting was intended to raise awareness of “the absurdity of violence between humans.” Speaking to French broadcaster BFMTV after the opening ceremony, artistic director Thomas Joly denied that “The Last Supper” was a reference. Instead, Joly said the idea was to “hold a great pagan festival linked to the gods of Olympus” as the painting prominently featured a version of Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
“It was very clear, is it Dionysus who has come to the table? Why is he there? Because Dionysus is the Greek god of celebration and wine, and he is the father of Sequana, the goddess of the Seine River,” Jolie added.
“It was clearly never intended to show disrespect to any religious group,” Olympics spokeswoman Anne Descamps told The Associated Press. “We believe that this ambition has been achieved. If people felt any offense, we are truly sorry.”
