A tech company swiftly dropped its Olympic advertising after drag queens and dancers performed an apparent parody of the Last Supper at the 2024 Paris opening ceremonies.
Mississippi-based telecommunications and technology company C Spire announced it cut ties with the games Saturday morning — several hours after the show that sparked outrage across the globe.
“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics,” the company posted on X.
C Spire declined to share with The Post what form of advertisements were pulled or how much they forked over to be part of the quadrennial world event.
Company President and CEO Suzy Hays said in a statement that “C Spire is supportive of our athletes who have worked so hard to be a part of the Olympics. However, we will not be a part of the offensive and unacceptable mockery of the Last Supper, which is why we’re pulling our advertising from the Olympics.”
The incendiary performance came at the top of an impromptu fashion show across the Debilyl Bridge with the Eiffel Tower and Seine in full view.
Three French drag queens and other ornately dressed dancers began the performance by standing in line at the base of the runway, which resembled a long table, in a scene that seemed to evoke Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper.”
We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising from the Olympics.
— C Spire (@CSpire) July 27, 2024
At the center was a bedazzled woman with a large silver headdress that resembled a halo as depicted in paintings of Jesus. She smiled and made a heart shape with her hands as her peers stared down the camera before breaking out into a choreographed routine.
During a press conference Sunday, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony, defended the production as a symbol of “inclusion.”
“Our subject was not to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together,” Jolly said. “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.”
Despite the explaination, condemnation came from religous conservatives.
Practicing Catholic Marion Maréchal took to X, saying: “To all the Christians of the world who are watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaking but a left-wing minority ready for any provocation.”
“… because decapitating Habsburgs and ridiculising central Christian events are really the FIRST two things that spring to mind when you think of #OlympicGames,” Eduard Habsburg, Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican, posted on X, also referencing a scene depicting the beheading of Marie Antoinette.
Mississippi Gov. Tate Reeves — who did not initially condemn the performance — applauded C Spire’s advertisement revocation.
“I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi put their foot down,” The Republican said on X. “God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line.”
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NEW YORK POST
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