Donald Trump has joined the fierce backlash after this summer’s controversial opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics, branding it ‘terrible’ and ‘a disgrace’.
The 33rd Games got off to a spectacular – if soggy – start last Friday night as the River Seine hosted the traditional Parade of Nations, involving around 6,800 of the athletes competing over the next fortnight.
Pop stars Lady Gaga and Celine Dion performed at either end of the four-hour-long party, which was watched on by a host of star-studded names and dignitaries in the French capital.
Certain elements of the procession proved divisive, though, with Team GB legend Rebecca Adlington clearly less than impressed, labelling the show ‘disjointed in places’.
Meanwhile, a flamboyant scene featuring a diverse line-up, including drag queens and a half-nude man painted head-to-toe in blue, drew immediate comparisons to Leonardo da Vinci’s Last Supper – which many felt was ‘disrespectful’ and overstepped the line.
‘This was extremely disrespectful to Christians,’ Tesla CEO Elon Musk wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Olympic organisers subsequently issued an apology for the controversial parody and footage of the moment was seemingly deleted from the Games’ official YouTube channel.
‘Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,’ Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps told a press conference.
‘The opening ceremony tried to celebrate community tolerance.
‘We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry.’
It comes after Thomas Jolly, the artistic director behind Friday’s ceremony, insisted the scene had not been inspired by DaVinci’s iconic mural painting, saying: ‘You will never find in my work a desire to denigrate anyone or anything.’
During a wide-ranging interview on Fox News’ The Ingraham Angle, former US President Trump addressed the controversy, making his feelings abundantly clear on the ceremony and the apparent depiction of The Last Supper.
‘I thought that the opening ceremony was a disgrace, actually. I thought it was a disgrace,’ Trump – who is campaigning for a return to the White House – told Laura Ingraham.
‘I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was terrible. We won’t be having a Last Supper as portrayed the way they portrayed it the other night.
‘Look, I’m for everybody. I’m very open-minded… but I thought what they did was a disgrace.’
Drag queen, Nicky Doll, who was selected as a torchbearer and featured heavily in the ceremony, said she ‘loved ruffling some feathers’ with the role she played on the night.
‘The opening ceremony did ruffle some feathers… and I LOVE it. You know why?’ she wrote on Instagram.
‘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 the time that were are welcome in the space.’
In an earlier post, Doll said it was an ‘honour’ to put ‘queerness on the screen’ of billions across the globe.
‘I had a dream, and that dream came to life yesterday. I had the dream that France would represent its people to the fullest on the world’s biggest stage, biggest show: The Opening Ceremony of the Olympics,’ she wrote.
‘It was my absolute honour 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.’