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SNL alum Rob Schneider boycotts 2024 Olympics over 'Last Supper' opening ceremony that 'disrespects Christianity and celebrates Satan'
Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider is boycotting the ongoing Paris Olympics over a controversial opening ceremony that he sees as Satanic display that 'disrespects Christianity.'
'I am sorry to say to ALL the world's GREATEST ATHLETES, I wish you ALL THE BEST, but I cannot watch an Olympics that disrespects Christianity and openly celebrates Satan,' the 60-year-old wrote on X.
Paris Olympics organizers apologized to anyone who was offended by a tableau that evoked Leonardo da Vinci's 'The Last Supper' during the glamorous opening ceremony, but defended the concept behind it Sunday.
Da Vinci's painting depicts the moment when Jesus Christ declared that an apostle would betray him. The scene during Friday's ceremony featured DJ and producer Barbara Butch — an LGBTQ+ icon — flanked by drag artists and dancers. One backup dancer appeared to have his genitals exposed during the ceremony.
'Guys with their genitalia hanging out in front of children?!' Schneider wrote in another post. 'Drag Queens?! I wasn't sure if I was watching the @Olympics or if I was watching a school board meeting…'
Saturday Night Live alum Rob Schneider, 60, is boycotting the ongoing Paris Olympics
Echoing the criticisms of others, Schneider claimed the ceremony celebrates Satan
Schneider is hardly the only person offended by the opening ceremony.
Religious conservatives from around the world decried the segment, with the French Catholic Church's conference of bishops deploring 'scenes of derision' that they said made a mockery of Christianity — a sentiment echoed by Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
The Anglican Communion in Egypt expressed its 'deep regret' Sunday, saying the ceremony could cause the IOC to 'lose its distinctive sporting identity and its humanitarian message.'
Donald Trump Jr. has also attacked the director's intentions as 'satanic.'
'My mom was an Olympian (Czech Natl Ski Team), and as a kid we would be excited for weeks leading up to the games,' Trump Jr. wrote on X, repeating the debunked false claim that the late Ivana Trump was a member of Czechoslovakia's 1972 Olympic team.
'Now with the ever predictable (& seemingly satanic to me) drag queen opening ceremonies and never ending bs, no one I know even thinks about it beyond maybe watching some highlights,' he continued.
But for all the talk of the director's supposedly 'satanic' intentions, the scene may have been misinterpreted.
The ceremony's artistic director Thomas Jolly had distanced his scene from any 'Last Supper' parallels after the ceremony, saying it was meant to celebrate diversity and pay tribute to feasting and French gastronomy.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps was asked about the outcry during an International Olympic Committee news conference on Sunday.
'Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. On the contrary, I think [with] Thomas Jolly, we really did try to celebrate community tolerance,' Descamps said.
'Looking at the result of the polls that we shared, we believe that this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense we are, of course, really, really sorry.'
Feast of the Gods' by Rottenhammer and Bruegel, circa 1602, depicts the same scene
Jolly explained his intentions to The Associated Press after the ceremony.
'My wish isn't to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock,' Jolly said. 'Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.'
LGBTQ+ athletes, though, seemed to have a whale of a time. British diver Tom Daley posted a photo of himself recreating the standout Kate Winslet-Leonardo DiCaprio scene from 'Titanic,' only with the roles reversed: He was at the boat's prow with arms outstretched, as rower Helen Glover held him from behind.
When a giant silver dome lifted to reveal singer Philippe Katerine reclining on a crown of fruit and flowers, practically naked and painted blue, audiences who didn't think he was Papa Smurf may have guessed that he represented Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and ecstasy.
But unless they speak French, they may not have caught the cheekiness of his lyrics.
'Where to hide a revolver when you're completely naked?' he sang, pointing down to his groin. 'I know where you're thinking. But that's not a good idea.'
'No more rich and poor when you go back to being naked. Yes,' Katerine continued.
Decades after Brigitte Bardot sang 'Naked in the Sun,' this was Paris' reminder that everyone starts life in their birthday suit, so where's the shame?