"Shocked by mockery:" US tech company pulls down Paris Olympics ads after opening ceremony 'Last Supper' controversy

Following the controversial opening ceremony, US telecommunication company C-spire has decided to pull down its ads from the Paris Olympics 2024.

This development came after drag queens and dancers performed an apparent parody of the Leonardo da Vinci's ‘The Last Supper’ at the 2024 Paris opening ceremony. The performance ignited widespread criticism and backlash across the globe.

Mississippi-based telecommunications and technology company C Spire announced it cut ties with the games Saturday morning.

“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.

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.”

What’s the controversy?

Three French drag queens and other ornately dressed dancers began their 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.”

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.

While addressing 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.”