Barbara Butch is a French DJ and lesbian activist who is currently facing backlash after being in the centre of the ‘Last Supper’ scandal, at the Paris Olympics 2024 opening ceremony, find out more about her below as she goes viral on Instagram
The French DJ seemingly featured at the center of the song and dance sequence during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Summer Olympics on July 26.
Who is DJ Barbara Butch accused of mocking Jesus and the Christian religion during Olympics 2024 opening ceremony, bio, age and Instagram
Following her appearance at the opening ceremony, many viewers had criticized her for making mockery of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting ‘The Last Supper’.
Barbara Butch bio
Leslie Barbara Butch, known as Barbara Butch, is a French disc jockey who was born in 1981 in Paris, France. Aside from her work as a DJ, Barbara is a renowned LGBTQ+ activist, and also often campaigns for fat acceptance. She also made the short film Extra Large and won the Out d’or 2021 “personnalité LGBTI de l’année” by the French Association of LGBTI Journalists. She is currently 43 years old.
Barbara Butch ‘The Last Supper’ scandal
Barbara Butch took center stage at the Olympics opening ceremony appearing in front of a long dinner table. She wore a blue dress paired with a large silver headdress, which resembled the halo of Jesus Christ. Surrounding her where a dozen drag queens on both sides, which seemingly mirroring the Twelve Apostles.
A little while later, a skimpily clad man in blue body paint appeared on stage and sat on the dinner table. He represented Dionysus, the Greek God of wine-making, vegetation, fertility, and ecstasy. Once he appeared, all the performers including Barbara Butch danced to his song and later depicted a runaway scene while exiting the stage.
Unsurprisingly, the video garnered severe traction online and earned major criticisms over the weekend from several notable personalities. These include X owner Elon Musk, NFL star Harrison Butker, former kickboxer Andrew Tate, and others.
Barbara Butch further caused uproar after sharing the performance alongside that of The Last Supper on her Instagram Story. She wrote “Oh Yes! Oh Yes! The New Gay Testament!”, while tagging her fellow performers. However, she eventually removed the Story and replaced it with a picture of her performance while writing:
Will forever be proud and support this moment of art reference. The Feast of Gods by Jan Harmensz van Bijlert. I received a lot of messages about my faith… but I have questions about yours.”
Backlash from netizens
Barbara Butch has since faced major backlash from netizens regarding her performance and Instagram activity. Many netizens have criticized her, accusing her of trying to “gaslight” the viewers.
One person wrote:
Yip. The gaslighting is in full swing now.”
Another person wrote:
I feel gaslit these last couple of days. lol. What I care about is the truth, whether the people behind this ceremony were mocking The Last Supper or if this really was a Greek scene depicting gods and goddesses. Either way, it’s not of God and is wicked and should be exposed, but I’m praying the lies are exposed in the coming days. Need clarity on this.”
Meanwhile, others accused Barbara Butch and the Olympics committee of trying to cover up the truth.
One netizen shared:
We know the truth, they are freaking liars,” a netizen wrote.“They are all saying the same thing. We know better”.
Another individual wrote:
Of course. Ruined the Olympics,”.
International Olympic Committee clarifies
Amidst the scandal, Thomas Jolly, who is the art director of the Olympics inaugural ceremony clarified the scandal. He claimed on Saturday that the portrayal was not meant to “be subversive or shock people or mock people.” He stated how Vinci’s The Last Supper was not his “inspiration.” Instead, he explained that the idea was to have a pagan celebration connected to the gods of Olympus. He added the following, while exploring Barbara Butch’s Olympics performance:
You will never find in me a desire to mock and denigrate anyone.”
Anne Descamps, the spokesperson of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics organizers, also issued an apology on Sunday, stating:
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. Looking at the results 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.”