Olympic organizers are facing strong backlash from Christians and others around the world after the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics featured a skit mocking Jesus’ Last Supper.
Panelists on “Outnumbered” responded to the mockery on Monday, explaining why many believe the segment was intended to offend Christians and how the controversial opening ceremony affected the true purpose of the Olympics.
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“You can’t say it wasn’t intentional. It was clearly intentional,” Fox News contributor Charlie Hart said on “Outnumbered” on Monday. “It’s really awful, but the other thing is we’re talking about the cradle of the most beautiful art in the world, and it’s so ugly. It’s just so unattractive overall.”
“You have great athletes from all over the world… and the purpose of the Olympics is to show unity and to have the best athletes compete on the track and field, not on the battlefield, but they just want to show their butts… and the result is an unattractive display. It’s ridiculous… and also very offensive to Christians.”
The controversial Olympic display featured a host of performers, including drag queens and a large woman wearing a halo crown, who performed a parody of “The Last Supper,” a world-famous painting by Renaissance artist Leonardo da Vinci depicting Christ and his apostles on Passover night before his passion and death.
The image sparked outrage among Christians and conservatives online, including Catholic Bishop Robert Barron, who expressed dismay that a traditionally Catholic country would mock such a significant event recorded in the Gospels.
However, the creators of the controversial scene insisted that the “mockery” was not intended to offend Christians, but to honour Dionysus, the Greek god of wine.
Co-host Kayleigh McEnany refuted these claims, saying Christians should definitely be outraged.
“This is by far the most egregious incident and should deeply outrage Christians,” McEnany said.
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She also argued that it was unfortunate that the skit featured sexual imagery, as the purpose of the game is supposed to be one of unity.
“This is not about that,” she said. “The Olympics are symbolic and historic, and we celebrate the athletes who have worked their whole lives for this moment.”
Anne Decquin, a spokeswoman for Paris 2024, said of the weekend backlash: “Obviously there was no intention to show any disrespect towards any religious community.” [The opening ceremony] “I tried to celebrate the community’s generosity,” Dekan told reporters. Via Reuters.
“We believe this ambition has been achieved and we sincerely apologise if anyone was offended.”
“This interpretation of the Greek god Dionysus brings home the absurdity of human violence,” the official Olympics X account wrote.
“This takes the spotlight away from all the athletes,” co-host Harris Faulkner said.
“They’re not in the spotlight and if they think that, they need to watch the opening of that show… They attacked us and it’s fair game for everyone. So I’m not sure what they think they accomplished through that IOC spokesman, but I’ll never watch another opening.”
“They’re not going to lose my viewership. I ended up not watching the whole thing, I turned it off because it made me so upset, but I’m watching it for the young men and women who have dedicated their lives, their teenage years, giving everything they’ve got to compete for their country,” she continued.
“I am worried about them and I will keep an eye on them and I hope they do not catch the disease that the French IOC leadership has, because it is a disease and it is an abomination.”
Fox News’ Gabriel Hayes, Timothy H.J. Nerozzi and Ryan Gaydos and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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