A French DJ and LGBTQ+ rights icon mentioned she has filed police experiences over focused demise threats for her participation in a piece of the Paris Olympics opening ceremony the place comparisons have been drawn to Leonardo da Vinci’s The Final Supper.
Through the four-hour ceremony on Friday, drag queens and dancers at one level struck poses alongside an extended desk as Barbara Butch DJed within the heart. An individual painted sparkly blue, singing in French, was resting on a dinner platter in entrance. Some social media customers mentioned the picture resembled the portrait of Jesus Christ and his 12 apostles earlier than he was crucified, which grew to become the middle of swift backlash.
Home Speaker Mike Johnson, French far-right politician Marion Maréchal and Kansas Metropolis Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker have been amongst these berating the tableau. “Final night time’s mockery of The Final Supper was stunning and insulting to Christian individuals around the globe,” Johnson mentioned on X.
Organizers shared pictures of the tableau, noting that it was meant to reference the Greek god Dionysus. The DJ had posted a photograph of her headdress earlier than the occasion with a caption describing her costume as an “OLYMPIAN MUSIC GODDESS.”
On Monday, she mentioned she has confronted “a particularly violent marketing campaign of cyber-harassment and defamation” in response to her look within the ceremony. In a press release from Audrey Msellati, her legal professional, Butch shared on Instagram: “Because the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Video games, artist DJ, and activist Barbara Butch… has been threatened with demise, torture and rape, and has additionally been the goal of quite a few anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and grossophobic insults.”
Including, “Barbara Butch condemns this vile hatred directed at her, what she represents, and what she stands for.”
Msellati says that Butch has filed “a number of complaints” towards these acts, whether or not dedicated by French nationals or foreigners, and intends to prosecute “anybody who tries to intimidate her sooner or later.”
Thomas Jolly, the creative director of the Olympics Opening Ceremony, defended the efficiency throughout a information convention on Saturday. When requested concerning the criticism, he mentioned he wished to show “inclusion.” Spokesperson Anne Descamps mentioned that “clearly there was by no means an intention to point out disrespect to any non secular group … If individuals have taken any offense we’re actually sorry.”