The 2024 Paris Olympics is off to a controversial start, which has left people across the globe outraged. And guess what! Boxer Ryan Garcia has joined the thousands on social media expressing their discontent. What happened? Well, buckle up because this one’s a doozy! 

During the opening ceremony on Friday evening, several drag queens parodied Leonardo da Vinci’s rendition of the Last Supper. A total of 18 performers re-created the scene, which was a depiction of Jesus Christ’s final meal with his disciples before crucifixion. The comically exaggerated scene featured some half naked performers.

One in the middle with a halo atop her head, behind the long table. A man drenched in blue, with just vines covering his genitals, sat in the middle of the table, surrounded by flowers. Since the performance, many called it “crazy” while others described it as a mockery of the Christian faith. Even 25-year-old Ryan Garcia chimed in on Instagram today.

“The Olympics needs to be boycotted now[.] You can’t disrespect religion in front of millions[.] This ain’t right no one watch[.]”, Garcia wrote while sharing a side-by-side comparison of the actual picture and the scene from Friday’s opening ceremony. The official X page of the 2024 Olympics suggested that the performance was an “interpretation of the Greek God [of wine and festivity] Dionysus” to spread awareness “of the absurdity of violence between human beings”.

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However, this wasn’t enough to change Garcia’s mind, who later wrote on X, “I will never I mean never watch the Olympics ever”. And the thing is, it’s not just Garcia, who has expressed his concerns about the performance on social media. 

Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker and others join Ryan Garcia

The ceremony began with a spectacular performance by LGBTQ icon Lady Gaga, who paid tribute to French dancer and singer Zizi Jeanmaire near the River Seine. Meanwhile, French-Canadian superstar Céline Dion graced the stage by the Eiffel Tower. To top it off, rapper Snoop Dogg made a memorable appearance with a torch-bearing act! Regardless, after the ceremony concluded, journalist Kyle Becker described it by writing,  “The 2024 Paris Olympics has gone full Woke dystopian” on X.

He even added that the depiction of the Last Supper “was filled with transgender mockery” while Harrison Butker called the visual “crazy” on Instagram, quoting Galatians 6:7: “Be not deceived, God is not mocked.” Athlete Riley Gaines also commented on the performance, especially the drag performers, stating, “No one ever tell me this group is ‘oppressed’ or ‘marginalized’ again”.

Even though the games were started to contribute to peace and to the harmonious development of humankind, the 2024 Paris games seem to have done the exact opposite. Was the performance in poor taste? You be the judge of that, and let’s know in the comments below.