DJ Barbara Butch In “The Last Supper” Mockery Filing Complaints After Receiving Threats

Daily Report July 30,2024

The furor over the Paris Olympics’ opening ceremony went down a legal path Tuesday as DJ Barbara Butch revealed through her lawyer that she is filing complaints following an onslaught of threats and insults on social media in reaction to him performing at the event.

Butch’s lawyer said Butch “has been threatened with death, torture and rape, and has also been the target of numerous anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist and grossophobic insults.”

Butch’s agent confirmed the authenticity of his Instagram account to The Associated Press.

The row concerns one part of the ceremony involving Thomas Jolly, which featured what some deemed to be a parody of Leonardo Da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’. Although Jolly said that the painting was not an influence, critics believed otherwise, especially in a scene involving Butch.

Butch — who introduces herself as a ”love activist”— wore a silver headdress that made it look like she was wearing a halo.

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However, the portrayal was described as offending to Christians by French Catholic bishops and several other associations.

The Paris Olympics organizers responded to the backlash by stressing that there was “never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group” and that the segment was intended to promote “community tolerance.”

The ceremony’s artistic director, Thomas Jolly, has since shared that he didn’t use “The Last Supper” as his inspiration.

“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.”

In a statement of her own, also posted on Instagram, Butch said: “Whatever some may say, I exist. I’ve never been ashamed of who I am, and I take responsibility for everything — including my artistic choices. All my life, I’ve refused to be a victim: I won’t shut up.”

“I’m committed, and I’m proud. Proud of who I am, of what I am, and of what I embody, both for my loved ones and for millions of French people. My France is France !” she wrote.