PARIS: The controversy over the iconoclastic opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics is refusing to abate days into the Games, with conservative political figures worldwide condemning a show that has been staunchly defended by President Emmanuel Macron and its creators.
Friday's parade along the River Seine, the first time the opening ceremony for a summer Games has been held outside a stadium, featured celebrations of same-sex love, drag queens and a scene critics have alleged lampooned the Last Supper of Jesus Christ.
The ceremony's creator, French theatre director Thomas Jolly, has said that it aimed to create a "cloud of tolerance and love" while Macron has said the display made France "extremely proud."
With the controversy also swirling within France, a French lesbian activist who performed in the ceremony has filed a complaint with prosecutors over cyber-bullying and death threats.
"I'm very open-minded but I thought what they did was a disgrace," Republican Donald Trump, US president from 2017-2021 and frontrunner to regain the White House in this year's elections, told Fox News.
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who hails from an Islamic-rooted party, condemned the opening ceremony for "immorality against all Christians" and said he would call Pope Francis to discuss the controversy.
"The Olympic Games have been used as a tool of perversion that corrupts human nature," said Erdogan.
The president said he had been invited by Macron but a warning from his 13-year-old granddaughter, who "showed me images on Instagram", persuaded him to pull out.
The X account of Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, who leads the theocratic Islamic republic, condemned "insults" he said were made against Christianity at the opening.
Particular attention has focused on a scene including dancers and drag queens during Friday's show that was reminiscent of depictions of the Last Supper, the final meal that Jesus is said to have shared with his apostles.
Organisers have said they intended to portray a pagan feast led by the Greek god of wine Dionysus, and meant no offence. Jolly has denied there was any intention to represent the Last Supper.
The scene – intended to promote tolerance of different sexual and gender identities – also featured French actor Philippe Katerine as Dionysus, who appeared on a silver serving dish, almost naked and painted blue.
One of the performers in that tableau, Barbara Butch, a lesbian body-positive feminist and DJ, wrote on Instagram that she had become the target of "particularly violent... cyber-harassment" and said her lawyer had filed legal complaints with prosecutors.
"Although at first I decided not to speak out to let the haters cool down, the messages I receive are increasingly extreme," she said.
"I won't shut up. I'm not afraid of those who hide behind a screen, or a pseudonym, to spew their hatred and frustrations... I'm committed, and I'm proud."
She attached a statement by her lawyer Audrey Msellati saying her client had been "threatened with death, torture and rape" and had been the target of "anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and fat-shaming insults."
There has also been criticism from within France from extreme right wing figures including Marion Marechal and Eric Zemmour and in Italy from Italy's deputy prime minister, far-right League leader Matteo Salvini.
The French Bishops' Conference has also weighed in, saying the ceremony contained "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply regret."
Nevertheless the French far-right National Rally (RN) of three-time presidential candidate Marine Le Pen has largely kept its distance from the controversy.
Olympics organising committee spokeswoman Anne Descamps said her team stood by its artists.
"We strongly condemn the cyber-bullying that our ceremony and artistic team have been subjected to," she said.
The scene that has sparked controversy "depicts a pagan feast," she insisted. "If any people have been offended, it was not intentional."
Another controversy relates to the television production of the show which was criticised by Jolly who said that the director had "missed a lot of moments."
But the subsidiary of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) responsible for filming the ceremony, Olympic Broadcasting Services, denied any failure, while acknowledging difficulties related to the rain and the scale of the show. --AFP