IOC and NBC take down Olympic opening ceremony video from YouTube

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has deleted a video of the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Games in Paris from its YouTube channel. Committee officials faced massive global public backlash over an alleged LGBTQ-themed parody of ‘The Last Supper’ at the event, which was widely seen by Christians as blasphemous.

As of Sunday, the 26-minute video on the Olympics YouTube channel titled ‘LET THE GAMES BEGIN! | #Paris2024 Opening Ceremony Highlights’ is unavailable, with comments under the link closed. The same goes for a similar video on the YouTube channel of NBC Sports, the official broadcaster of the Games in the US. The IOC did not explain the reason for the move.

The apparent removal of the video came after numerous politicians, social media users, and influencers expressed outrage over a scene featuring a troupe of drag queens, homosexuals, and transsexuals posing at a table as Jesus Christ and his apostles appeared in Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’.

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Faced with criticism, Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps issued an apology, explaining that “clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group” and that the ceremony “tried to celebrate community tolerance.”

She went on to say: “we believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offence we are really sorry.”

As the video featuring the controversial scene was removed and closed to comments, Olympics enthusiasts flocked to videos of opening ceremonies from previous years, including London 2012 and Sochi 2014, to both reminisce about how successful they were and express their frustration over the ceremony in Paris.

Meanwhile, the official page of the Olympic Games published a post on X (formerly Twitter) asking social media users: “Which moment [of the ceremony] was your favorite?” only to be targeted with a new wave of criticism, with descriptions of the event ranging from “absolutely atrocious,” “shameful,” and “disgusting,” to “blasphemous” and “freak show.”