Kangana Ranaut, an actor and politician, has taken issue with the Paris Olympics organizers’ inclusion of a drag queen routine during the opening ceremony that seemed to spoof Leonardo da Vinci’s masterpiece “The Last Supper.” 117 athletes from India are competing in the multi-sport event, which got underway in the French city on Friday night with an extravagant, nearly four-hour-long opening ceremony.
The 18 performers, including three well-known Drag Race France queens, struck up postures behind a long table with the Seine River and Eiffel Tower serving as the backdrop for the drag act, which drew harsh criticism from the public on social media.
A huge serving platter sat on the table, and inside coiled up was a scantily clad man painted a shimmering blue.
Ranaut criticized the performance as a “hyper-s*xualized, blasphemous rendition of The Last Supper” in an Instagram Stories post. The Last Supper is one of the most well-known pieces of art in the world and shows Jesus having his final dinner with his apostles in Jerusalem prior to his crucifixion.
Ranaut, who was just elected to the Lok Sabha from Mandi, Himachal Pradesh, on a BJP ticket, also chastised the organizers for putting what appeared to be a youngster in the show.
The inclusion of a *child* in the hypersexualized and profane portrayal of The Last Supper at the Paris Olympics has drawn criticism. During the performance, a child-like figure was observed joining the drag queens.
“They also showed a naked man painted blue as Jesus and mocked Christianity. Leftists totally hijacked Olympics 2024. Shame,” she wrote. At the Olympics opening, everything was about being homosexual,” Ranaut further added.
“I am not against homosexuality but this is beyond me how Olympics is related to any sexuality?? Why games, sports participation of all nations to claim human excellence being taken over by sex?? Why cant sex stay in our bedrooms?? Why it has to be a national identity?.. This is bizzare !!” she stated.
The organizers of the Paris Olympics provided a detailed explanation of the deed in a post on the official X page.
The message said, “Olympics: The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings.”
The performance had earlier drawn criticism from entrepreneur Elon Musk, who described it as “extremely disrespectful to Christians” in a post on X.
The Olympics in Paris will end on August 11.
