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Nigerian actress Juliana Olayode has publicly condemned the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony for its controversial portrayal of religious themes, particularly a parody of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting, The Last Supper, featuring drag queens, a transgender model, and a singer dressed as the Greek god of wine.
Taking to her official Instagram account on July 29, 2024, the actress expressed her anger in a detailed post and slammed the performance, describing it as "completely unacceptable," "bizarre," and "disrespectful."
She wrote in her caption, "This is completely unacceptable! This is bizarre, this is disrespectful and wrong in every way! Last time I checked, the Olympics are a sports event and should be about sporting events not about religion or gender identity. NOT DISRESPECTING PEOPLE’S FAITH!"
The actress expressed deep frustration over what she perceived as a growing trend of disrespect towards Christianity.
"I am actually very upset, I wasn’t even going to do this post, because I know that MY GOD CAN DEFEND HIMSELF! But as Christians, we have kept quiet for too long and that’s why we are where we are. People of other faiths would speak up, without hesitation at the sight of anything they found disrespectful to their religion. No matter how small," she explained.
The actress stressed her belief that Christianity is frequently attacked and disrespected across various platforms, and called out the organisers of the Olympics, questioning their decision to include such a controversial element in the ceremony.
"The world always fights the TRUTH. The world is constantly attacking/ disrespecting Christianity, in music, movies, on the news, on some TV shows and now in sports. It is very disgusting and disrespectful! Whoever approved this for the Olympics opening ceremony should be checked," she wrote in part.
Juliana's post comes after the worldwide outrage over the ceremony, from Catholics, Christians and other conservatives. Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps spoke at a press conference and apologised for the ceremony.
"Clearly, there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. The opening ceremony tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry," she said.