Recently, a handful of prominent restaurants in Ohio announced they would not be televising the 2024 Paris Olympics after the “insulting” displays during the opening ceremony sparked an immense global backlash. Subsequently, restaurants in Columbus and Cleveland owned by prominent restauranteur Bobby George will not air the Games to their customers.
Reportedly, the restaurants encompassed in the Olympics boycott include TownHall, REBoL, Green Goat, and Mandrake. A joint statement posted to Instagram on Tuesday titled, “We are protesting the 2024 Paris Olympics,” slammed the apparent mockery of the famous Leonardo da Vinci painting, “The Last Supper,” which depicts a critical moment in Christianity where Jesus Christ shared his final meal with the apostles.
“The portrayal of ‘The Last Supper’ was handled with an irresponsible level of irreverence, insulting the Christian faith. We unapologetically uphold a standard where all religions, races, sexual orientations, national origins, disabilities, ages, and gender identities are respected. We will not tolerate any form of discrimination or desecration. Therefore, we will not be broadcasting the Olympic Games at any of our restaurants,” the statement read.
Following the seemingly blasphemous reinterpretation of the Christianity-inspired da Vinci masterpiece, at least one company has pulled their advertisements from the Paris Olympics. The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based technology and communications company C-Spire stated they would no longer advertise during the Olympics.
The company wrote on social media, “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.” C Spire CEO Suzy Hays said in a statement to Fox Business, “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 advertising from the Olympics.”
Rep. August Pluger (R-TX) also commented on the apparent mockery in the ceremony, writing, “The Olympics are supposed to be a time of mutual respect and a reason to come together from around the world. It is unacceptable that the opening ceremony mocked Christianity and the Last Supper and included a child in a drag queen performance.”
Furthermore, former President Donald Trump also addressed the opening performance during a recent interview with Fox News, where he blasted it as a “disgrace.” Trump maintained that while he is an “open-minded” individual, such a disgraceful performance would never occur under his watch. “I thought the opening ceremony was a disgrace, actually,” Trump stated. “I thought it was a disgrace.” Ingraham followed up, “The mocking of The Last Supper. Catholics and Christians across the globe are outraged.” Trump replied, “I thought it was terrible.”
“We won’t be having a Last Supper as portrayed the way they portrayed it the other night,” he said to Fox News host Laura Ingraham. The Republican presidential candidate continued, “I mean, they can do certain things. I thought it was terrible … Look, I’m for everybody. I’m very open-minded. but I think what they did was a disgrace.”
Watch Chrisitan actress Cameron Candance Bure react to the ceremony below:
Featured image credit: Ibex73, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olympic_rings_on_the_Eiffel_Tower_2024_(5).jpg
Following the seemingly blasphemous reinterpretation of the Christianity-inspired da Vinci masterpiece, at least one company has pulled their advertisements from the Paris Olympics. The Ridgeland, Mississippi-based technology and communications company C-Spire stated they would no longer advertise during the Olympics.
The company wrote on social media, “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.” C Spire CEO Suzy Hays said in a statement to Fox Business, “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 advertising from the Olympics.”