‘Leftists hijacked Olympics’: Kangana slams drag act in opening ceremony

PTI, Jul 27, 2024, 7:41 PM IST

New Delhi: Actor-politician Kangana Ranaut has criticised the organisers of Paris Olympics for including an act in the opening ceremony that featured drag queens performing an apparent parody of “The Last Supper” painting by Leonardo da Vinci.

The multi-sports spectacle, in which India is being represented by 117 athletes, kick-started in the French capital on Friday evening with a lavish opening ceremony that was nearly four hours long.

The organisers faced significant criticism on social media for the drag act featuring 18 performers, including three well-known Drag Race France queens, who struck poses behind a long table with the Seine River and Eiffel Tower as the backdrop.

A massive serving tray was placed on the table with a scantily dressed man, painted in sparkling blue, curled up inside.

In a post on her Instagram Stories, Ranaut criticised the act as a “hyper-s*xualised, blasphemous rendition of The Last Supper”, which is one of the most famous art works in the world depicting Jesus’s last meal with his apostles in Jerusalem before his crucifixion.

Ranaut, who was recently elected to the Lok Sabha on a BJP ticket from Mandi in Himachal Pradesh, also slammed the organisers for including an apparent child in the performance.

“The Paris Olympics is under fire for including a *child* in their hyper-s*xualized, blasphemous rendition of The Last Supper. An apparent child could be seen joining the drag queens during the performance.

“They also showed a naked man painted blue as Jesus and mocked Christianity. Leftists totally hijacked Olympics 2024. Shame,” she wrote.

At the Olympics opening, everything was about “being homosexual”, Ranaut further said.

“I am not against homosexuality but this is beyond me how Olympics is related to any sexuality?? Why games, sports participation of all nations to claim human excellence being taken over by sex?? Why cant sex stay in our bedrooms?? Why it has to be a national identity?.. This is bizzare !!” she added.

In a post on the official X page of the Paris Olympics, the organisers explained the act in detail.

“Olympics: The interpretation of the Greek God Dionysus makes us aware of the absurdity of violence between human beings,” the post read.

Earlier, billionaire Elon Musk had criticised the performance in a post on X, calling it “extremely disrespectful to Christians”.

The Paris Olympics will run till August 11.