Mississippi-based C Spire withdrew its advertising in response to the blasphemous opening ceremony
A US tech company has pulled all advertising from the Paris Olympics after the opening ceremony featured a parody of the Last Supper involving drag queens, fat-positive influencers and dancers.
Within hours of the opening ceremony, which provoked outrage and derision, Mississippi-based telecommunications and technology company C Spire announced it had cut ties with the games.
“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 Twitter.
Company President and CEO Suzy Hays said in a statement: “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.”
It’s not clear at this point what form the advertising would have taken or how much was paid for it.
C Spire received support from Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves on Twitter.
“I am proud to see the private sector in Mississippi step up and put their foot down. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a common-sense, appropriate line.”
The opening ceremony drew a chorus of disgust and anger, with many questioning what on earth it had to do with the sporting competition and others stating it was a sinister, even Satanic, ceremony.
French politician Marion Maréchal, niece of National Rally leader Marine Le Pen, took to Twitter to apologise to “all the Christians of the world” for the blasphemous display.
“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.”
Thomas Jolly, the “artistic director” of the ceremony, defended it during a press conference on Saturday morning.
“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.”
