The opening ceremony of the Olympics in Paris on Friday evening was marred by controversial and bizarre elements, including mockery of the victims of the French Revolution, references to LGBT ideology, and a parody of the Last Supper. The event has sparked a wave of critical commentary, not only in Poland but also even from far-left French politician Jean-Luc Mélenchon.
Polish conservative leader Jarosław Kaczyński, speaking at a press conference, described the Paris opening as an “unprecedented scandal” and a “vivid illustration of the sad and increasingly advanced process of the moral and political decay of Western elites, including French elites.”
He warned that this decay threatens the future of what he called “the most benevolent civilization in the history of the world, a civilization friendly to man, the Christian civilization.”
The opening ceremony featured a transgender mockery of Christ’s Last Supper, which organizers have now apologized for. However, nearly the entire opening ceremony featured extreme imagery with sharply progressive political messaging. Users across social media were posting commentary about the event, with even X owner Elon Musk decrying what he said was open mockery of Christianity in response to footage of the ceremony, which has now been deleted due to copyright claims.
Referring to the ongoing scandal surrounding Poland’s public television, TVP, Kaczyński noted that commentator Przemysław Babiarz was suspended for his remarks about the Paris Olympics, specifically about the use of the John Lennon song “Imagine.” Babiarz suggested that the song carried a communist message, a sentiment that Lennon himself had associated with the song, though he claimed not to be a communist.
The decision by TVP to suspend Barbiaz from any coverage of the Olympics has been widely criticized as an overreach and a suppression of free speech. Kaczyński called it a “scandal” and evidence of the suppression of free speech in Poland, particularly within the public broadcaster.
“This is proof that freedom of speech has simply been abolished in Poland, and public television is precisely the place where this freedom is radically absent,” said the head of the Law and Justice (PiS) party.
