Many French people have reacted to the Olympic Games’ controversial opening ceremonies held in Paris on Friday, and not all responses are positive.

The opening ceremonies, held mainly as a boat parade down the River Seine, featured performances from international artists like Céline Dion and Olympian athletes onboard boats designated by country.

The ceremonies also featured a live reenactment of the Last Supper with drag queens and a ménage à trois sequence. The Last Supper, painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is not located in Paris but in Italy at the refectory of the Convent of Santa Maria delle Grazie.

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The French Bishops’ Conference released a statement on X, saying “this ceremony unfortunately included scenes of mockery and derision of Christianity, which we deeply regret. We would like to thank the members of other religious denominations who have expressed their solidarity with us.”

“This morning, we are thinking of all the Christians on every continent who have been hurt by the outrageousness and provocation of certain scenes,” the French Bishops’ Conference added.

French President Emmanuel Macron defended the controversial opening ceremonies also via X, saying “Thanks to Thomas Jolly and his creative genius for this grandiose ceremony. Thank you to the artists for this unique and magical moment. Thank you to the police and emergency services, agents and volunteers.”

Macron added, “Thank you to everyone who believed in it. We’ll talk about it again in 100 years! WE DID IT !”

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Thomas Jolly, 42, is a French actor and theater director from Rouen who was brought on two years ago to direct the opening and closing ceremonies of the Olympic Games in Paris.

Not all French people equally admired the ceremonies, however.

One French X user, @JulietteBriens, wrote “As a sincerely patriotic French girl, I disolidarise myself from this freakshow and apologize to you, world.”

Her post featured screengrabs of the scenes considered most controversial from the ceremonies, including a close-up of the ménage à trois scene.

Another X user from France, @Arwenstar posted “As a French woman I am deeply embarrassed by this #OpeningCeremony and would like to apologise to the entire world for subjecting you all to this sick farce. Don’t hate us, it isn’t us, it’s the woke metropolitan elite – they ruin f****** everything”

Florent Manaudou, Flagbearer of Team France, waves his flag during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games Paris 2024 on July 26, 2024, in Paris, France. (VCG via Getty Images)

A video has gone viral online of a French family reacting to the Last Supper reenactment, with the caption “POV: You’re watching the opening ceremonies of the Olympic Games and you realize it’s the last season of the Smurfs.”

In the video, one member of the family can be heard shouting, “No no no no no no! What is that?!” 

According to reporting from Variety, a total of 28.6 million Americans tuned in to watch the Paris Olympic Games opening ceremonies.

Medals have started to be handed out at the Paris Olympics, on the fourth day of the event following Friday’s massive opening ceremony on the Seine River.

Australia are currently leading the medal table (5) with the US, followed by France (4), and China (3), who scooped the very first gold medal of Paris 2024 on Saturday.

But a wave of controversies, on and off the competition grounds are somehow overshadowing the sport-side of the event.

Let’s take a look at the latest from Paris.

Canada football coach banned, team deducted six points after spying scandal

FIFA deducted six points from Canada in the Paris Olympics women’s football tournament and banned three coaches for one year each after two assistant coaches were caught using drones to spy on opponent New Zealand’s training before their Wednesday clash.

The punishments include a nearly €208,000 fine for the Canadian football federation in a case that has spiralled at the Summer Games.

France win rugby sevens gold medal ending Fiji’s ruling

Antoine Dupont scored two tries and created another to deliver a coveted gold medal for France on Saturday and end two-time champion Fiji’s Olympic dominance in rugby sevens.

The world’s best rugby player was saved for the second half in a tactical ploy that worked to perfection when he swung momentum with his first touch of the ball and then guided France to an emphatic 28-7 victory.

China scoop first Paris gold, aim for diving clean sweep

China’s Chang Yani and Chen Yiwen ranked first in Saturday’s women’s synchronized 3-meter springboard, a discipline ruled by Beijing for decades.

The team are aiming to scoop eight diving medals out of eight in Paris, after missing the historic achievement in Tokyo 2020 by one only.

Australia win women’s 400-meter freestyle and lead medal table

It was billed as one of the most anticipated races of the Paris Olympics, and Ariarne Titmus turned it into a blowout. The Aussie swimmer led from start to finish, living up to her ‘Terminator’ nickname to win gold in the women’s 400-meter freestyle.

Georgian shooter becomes first 10-time female Olympian

Georgian shooter Nino Salukvadze has become the first woman to compete at 10 Olympic Games in a career that began representing the Soviet Union.

Salukvadze has competed at every Summer Olympics since 1988 – when she won gold. She set her latest record when she stepped into the shooting range for qualification in the women’s 10-meter air pistol on Saturday, where however she placed 38th.

But she gets another shot at a medal Friday in qualification for the 25-meter pistol event.

Latest tests show Seine water quality was substandard when Paris mayor took dip

Tests by monitoring group Eau de Paris show that E. coli levels were then above the safe limit of 900 colony-forming units per 100 millilitres determined by European rules on July 17, when Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo took a swim.

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Heavy rain during the opening ceremony revived concerns over whether the long-polluted waterway will be clean enough to host swimming competitions.

French bishops turn against Olympics over ‘mockery of Christianity’

Saturday’s opening ceremony depicted an alleged reinterpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘Last Supper’ featuring drag queens as well as a nearly naked Dionisus.

It didn’t go down well with the French Catholic Church’s conference of bishops, as they called it a “derision and mockery of Christianity” and sent “thoughts” to “the Christians from all continents who were hurt by the outrage and provocation of certain scenes.”

But the show’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, said his wish was to “be subversive, nor to mock or to shock”.

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“Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”

South Korea fuming as athletes get introduced as North Koreans in opening ceremony

Olympic Games organizers said they “deeply apologise” for introducing South Korea’s athletes as North Korean during the opening ceremony in Paris on Friday.

Seoul’s authorities requested a meeting with IOC President Thomas Bach over the incident and are also planning to file “a strong government-level complaint” with the French government.

Bach called South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Saturday and apologized over the incident.

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Polish journalist suspended for calling ‘Imagine’ a ‘vision of communism’

Poland’s state broadcaster suspended a journalist who during the Olympic Games opening ceremony reacted to a performance of John Lennon’s “Imagine” saying it was a “vision of communism.”

Przemyslaw Babiarz won’t be allowed to comment on anything else Paris Olympics-related

Lennon’s song asks to imagine no heaven or hell, no countries, and no possessions.

“This is a vision of communism, unfortunately,” Babiarz said during the event.

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Paris roadblocks partially easing up

Street-blocking metal barricades and closed metro stations have been making life complicated for Parisians in the run-up to Saturday’s massive opening ceremony.

But now that it’s all over many hope parts of the city center will open back up. The Pont Des Invalides, a bridge spanning the Seine near the Eiffel Tower, was already opening up Saturday, and some police barricades were being taken down.

“I’m hoping things will be a bit more flexible” in the coming days, said Antonio, who’s Portuguese and has lived in Paris for 42 years. “We have to do a ton of laps.”

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