US tech company pulls Olympics ads after ‘Last Supper mockery’ opening ceremony

A tech company quickly pulled its Olympic ads after drag queens and dancers performed an apparent parody of the Last Supper at the Paris 2024 opening ceremonies.

Mississippi-based telecommunications and technology company C Spire announced it was severing ties to the games on Saturday morning – hours after the show sparked outrage across the globe.

“We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will pull our ads from the Olympics,” the company posted on X.

C Spire declined to share with The Post what form of advertising they pulled or how many were forced to be part of the quadrennial global event.

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 part of the offensive and unacceptable mockery of the Last Supper , that’s why we’re pulling our ads from the Olympics.”

The electrifying performance came on top of an impromptu fashion show along the Debilyl Bridge with the Eiffel Tower and the Seine in full view.

Three French drag queens and other ornately dressed dancers began the performance by lining up at the base of the dance floor, which resembled a long table, in a scene that seemed to evoke Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper .

We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will pull our ads from the Olympics.

— C Spire (@CSpire) July 27, 2024

In the center was an enchanted woman with a large silver headscarf that resembled a halo as depicted in paintings of Jesus. She smiled and made a heart shape with her hands as her peers looked down at the camera before bursting into a choreographed routine.

During a press conference on Sunday, Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the opening ceremony, defended the production as a symbol of “inclusion”.

“Our subject was not meant to be subversive. We never wanted to be subversive. We wanted to talk about diversity. Diversity means being together,” said Jolly. “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 message I wanted to send. In France, we are a republic, we have the right to love who we want, we have the right not to be fans, we have many rights in France, and this is what I wanted to convey.”

Despite the explanation, condemnation came from religious conservatives.

I’m proud to see the private sector in Mississippi grow and grow. God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a reasonable, appropriate line. https://t.co/R38yJye97I

— Governor Tate Reeves (@tatereeves) July 27, 2024

Practicing Catholic Marion Maréchal addressed X, saying: “To all the Christians of the world watching the #Paris2024 ceremony and feeling insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France that is speaks, but the left. – The minority of the wing ready for any provocation.”

“… because beheading Habsburgs and mocking central Christian events are actually the FIRST two things that come to mind when you think of the #Olympics,” Eduard Habsburg, Hungary’s ambassador to the Vatican, posted on X , also referring to a scene depicting beheading. of Marie Antoinette.

Governor of Mississippi. Tate Reeves – who initially did not condemn the performance – applauded the cancellation of the C Spire ad.

“I’m proud to see the private sector in Mississippi put its foot down,” said the Republican at X. “God will not be mocked. C Spire drew a reasonable and appropriate line.”