UPDATED:

(7-30-24) According to a NY Post story—

A Paris 2024 Olympics spokesperson admitted the controversial drag show version of “The Last Supper” seen in Friday’s opening ceremony was indeed inspired by the iconic da Vinci mural — despite attempting to vehemently deny it following fierce backlash.

“Thomas Jolly took inspiration from Leonardo da Vinci’s famous painting to create the setting.

He is not the first artist to make a reference to what is a world-famous work of art. From Andy Warhol to ‘The Simpsons,’ many have done it before him,”

(7-29-24) Nicky Doll was among the drag queens who participated in the Olympics Opening Ceremonies and wrote this on Instagram account–

“The opening ceremony did ruffle some feathers… and I LOVE it. You know why? Because the Olympics are the biggest stage in the world and us queer people have always been the audience of other people’s life and achievement and it is time that we are welcome in the space.”

“It was my absolute honor to perform in front of billions of people around the world, and celebrate our Olympians.”.

“And remember, to the ones that had their feathers ruffled seeing queerness on their screen: WE AIN’T GOING NOWHERE.”

(7-28-24) The Olympics opening ceremony in France has brought outrage around the world. The host committee’s explanation of a group of drag queens participation and now hopes of clarify the situation.

Many worldwide saw the depiction as a shot at Christians and the what many felt was a mockery of the ‘Last Supper‘…but the Olympic committee on ‘X’ said it was…

The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.

The description online of Dionysus may inflame the situation to another level.

What gender is Dionysus the Greek god?

Clearly, Dionysus‘ androgyny is integral to his role as a god of transformation. He transverses gender and sex roles with ease, perhaps because of the myths involving his childhood when Hermes gave infant Dionysus to the Nymphs and he was raised as a girl in order to protect him from Hera’s wrath.

Like all Greek gods, Dionysus fills a plethora of roles. To the ancient Greeks, he is the god of wine, teaching humans the wonders of the grape. But he is also a god of fertility, intoxication, and madness.1 He is a god of contradictions; in one myth destructive and causing chaos, in another, an innocent child taken and dismembered by jealous titans.

In Ancient Greek mythology, Dionysus was the god of collective ecstasy. He is often described as an androgynous and asexual figure, whose followers would dance themselves into trances

One Olympic sponsor immediately withdrew their advertising because of the depiction…

Comments appeared on ‘X’ about the situation.

NBC who is broadcasting the Paris Olympics had this in a posting –

Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony

“When we want to include everyone and not exclude anyone, questions are raised.

Our subject was not to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together,” he continued. “We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that. In France, we have freedom of creation, artistic freedom. We are lucky in France to live in a free country. I didn’t have any specific messages that I wanted to deliver. In France, we are republic, we have the right to love whom we want, we have the right not to be worshippers, we have a lot of rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”

NBC News story — Drag performance resembling Last Supper at Olympic opening ceremony rankles conservatives

NBC and the Olympic Committee asked that the video be removed from ‘X’ Accounts. No statement on why they decided to ask for this.