Paris 2024 organiser Anne Descamps has apologised for any offence caused by religious depictions during the opening ceremony.
THE BACKLASHES
Friday’s showpiece has drawn some criticism for a banquet scene where an actor playing Greek god Dionysus took centre stage on a table with drag queens, which has been interpreted to resemble Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper painting.
Some religious groups condemned the ceremony, including the Catholic Church in France who said it included ‘scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity’.
In a press conference on Sunday, Descamps apologised for any offence caused and insisted that the ceremony intended to ‘celebrate community tolerance’.
THE APOLOGY
‘Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,’ she said. On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly did try to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved, if people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry.’
The International Olympic Committee later said in a statement: ‘The IOC has taken note of and welcomes the clarification given by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee regarding the Opening Ceremony.
READ ALSO – Young diver, 20, went MISSING swimming off the coast of Dorset, police are trying NO MORE
‘In the daily press briefing, the Organising Committee said that there was never any intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief.
‘They reiterated that their intention with the Opening Ceremony was always to celebrate community and tolerance. The Organising Committee also said that if anyone was offended by certain scenes, this was completely unintentional and they were sorry.’
Sunday’s apology came after thousands of social media users threatened to boycott the Paris Games because of the opening ceremony.
