Not everyone enjoyed the Olympics opening ceremony. Now, organisers have apologised.

It's safe to say that not everyone loved what went on in the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony. From people paying thousands of euros to watch short glimpses of the opening ceremony as it progressed down the Seine to a controversial depiction of a Greek god, there were a lot of opinions. 

On the latter, what was intended to be a celebration of inclusivity has become something the Olympics has felt they need to apologise for. 

So, how did we get here and why is the Paris 2024 Olympics spokesperson Anne Descamps fronting the media saying organisers are 'really sorry'? Here's what you need to know. 

What was the controversy at the 2024 Paris Olympics?

The international sporting event's kick-off has become a maelstrom of widespread disparagement from the Christian community following the inclusion of a banquet scene depicting the Greek god Dionysus. 

Some Christians felt the scene resembled Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' too closely. The Catholic Church in France even criticised it, describing it as containing "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity." 

'The Last Supper' is a renowned artwork that shows Jesus seated at the centre of a long banquet table, surrounded by his 12 apostles. 

Even Australian Christian influencer Chloe Szepanowski jumped on social media to say, "Well this is just the absolute worst one yet."

"This year they are mocking God. This is appalling but all the more reason to follow Jesus."

The scene sparked such controversy that thousands on X threatened to boycott the Paris Olympics, with #boycottParis2024 and #boycottOlympics trending over the weekend.

"The Olympics are trash, woke and blasphemous," tweeted one user.

The #Olympics are trash, woke and blasphemous.#BoycottParis2024 #BoycottTheOlympics pic.twitter.com/2s9kkgNzW8

— ITGeekMonkeys™ 🍊 (@SEODESIGNTECH) July 26, 2024

There's been a lot of strong words.

What was the Olympics performance really about?

It turns out, the performance actually had nothing to do with Christianity, and was a celebration of one Greek pagan God, given Greece is the birthplace of the Olympics.

The performance starred Dionysus, the Greek god of vegetation and fruitfulness, a god of excess and ecstasy. French actor Philippe Katerine took the role, painted blue and largely nude with a dinner cloche pulled off him on a red runway doubling as a dinner table. Surrounding him drag queens celebrated the god before walking the dinner table runway in celebration of France's domination of fashion culture.

The official X account of the Olympic Games explained the vision as an interpretation of Dionysus' joyful energy that "makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings."

The scene was, given the backlash, ironically a dedication to peacefulness, inclusivity, tolerance and the avant garde essence of French fashion.

The ceremony's artistic director, Thomas Jolly confirmed to French news channel BFM-TV that 'The Last Supper' was not the inspiration behind the performance.

"There is Dionysus who arrives on this table. He is there because he is the God of celebration in Greek mythology," Jolly said. "The idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone."

Watch: Three-time Gold Medallist Charlotte Dujardin Pulls Out Of Paris 2024 Olympics. Post continues below.

Organiser Anne Descamps said, "Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group."

"On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly [the director] did try to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved, if people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry."

Director Jolly, doubled down on this response.

"We wanted to include everyone, as simple as that," he said. "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."

Even a US-based reverend, Benjamin Cremer, jumped online to put a stop to the allegations that it was intended to mock Christianity.

He tweeted: "It was a representation of the event called the Feast of Dionysus. Greek God of festivity and feasting and ritual and theatre."

"The Olympics are from Greek culture and tradition. French culture is deeply rooted in feasting and festivity and performing arts."

Dear American Christian, pic.twitter.com/kCAfQhgy5s

— Rev. Benjamin Cremer (@Brcremer) July 27, 2024

The lead actor, Katerine, spoke to French newspaper Le Parisien, saying that he felt the ceremony was incredibly "moving". 

"I was proud of it because it’s my culture. We are full of different people and each person lives in their own way and above all has the right to do so. I loved doing it,” he said. 

He also said that the nakedness was another nod to the peacefulness of the moment, "if we are naked, there is no war because there are no weapons," he said. 

Meanwhile, one of the lead drag queens in the performance, Nicky Doll, who is the host of RuPaul's Drag Race France wrote, "France has always been DRAG. Get over it."

"And to all the young queer people who felt touched, emotional to be seen and represented on that stage by me, [and] other performers: this one was for you!"

The International Olympic Committee also released a statement of their own, saying: "The IOC has taken note of and welcomes the clarification given by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee regarding the Opening Ceremony. 

"In the daily press briefing, the Organising Committee said that there was never any intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief. 

"They reiterated that their intention with the Opening Ceremony was always to celebrate community and tolerance."

Feature Image: Twitter.