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Paris Olympic officials apologize for ‘Last Supper’ controversy
Paris Olympic officials apologized for an opening ceremony depiction of the Greek god Dionysus, which some believed mocked “The Last Supper.”
The stars were shining in the City of Lights for the Olympic closing ceremony.
The closing ceremony, hosted by NBC broadcaster Mike Tirico and “The Tonight Show” host Jimmy Fallon, came with less controversy than the buzzy opening ceremony. The network stars were joined by fan-favorite figure skating commentators Johnny Weir and Tara Lipinski, Olympians in their own right, on the broadcast.
Team USA led the medal count with 40 gold medals and 126 overall medals. H.E.R. closed out the Paris Games on Sunday as the “Hard Place” singer sang the U.S. national anthem at Stade de France stadium.
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The performance was planned as a patriotic passing of the baton to LA28 ahead of the Los Angeles Olympics four years from now, where the United States is expected to widely embrace its first summer games since the controversial 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
What celebrities made appearances at the closing ceremony?
A series of A-list singers, including Billie Eilish, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Snoop Dogg, made star turns during the closing ceremony.
Red Hot Chili Peppers served up rock ‘n’ roll rebellion with a raucous beachside performance, while Eilish followed with a performance of her new wave hit “Birds of a Feather.” Snoop Dogg capped things off with a swaggering rendition of his mid-2000s banger “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” including a special appearance from hip-hop icon Dr. Dre.
Tom Cruise brought “Top Gun” to the top of the games to execute a skydiving stunt during the closing ceremony. The Cruise news, which was first reported on Aug. 1, brought fanfare and shocked the internet.
Accompanied by H.E.R. on electric guitar, the “Risky Business” star rappelled off the top of the Stade de France and landed with action-hero flair. Cruise then made his way through the crowd, collected the official Olympics flag and jetted off on a motorcycle.
Cruise concluded with a thrilling segment, in which the actor skydived into L.A. and redecorated the iconic Hollywood sign with the multicolored rings from the Olympics logo.
Who were the closing ceremony flag bearers? Meet Katie Ledecky and Nick Mead
Team USA‘s pair of flag bearers were swimmer Katie Ledecky and rower Nick Mead. Ledecky, a four-time Olympian who debuted at the 2012 London Olympics at age 15, is the most decorated female Olympian in Team USA history and the most decorated woman in swimming of all time.
Ledecky did not attend the July 26 opening ceremony — where NBA legend LeBron James and tennis phenom Coco Gauff were Team USA’s flag bearers — because her competition schedule began the following day.
Katie Ledecky, Nick Mead to lead US team at closing ceremony in Paris
Mead, 29, is a two-time Olympic rower who earned his first medal as part of Team USA’s gold medal-winning men’s four, the first time an American team has garnered a gold medal in the event since the 1960 Olympic games.
How did the closing ceremony compare to the opening ceremony?
The closing ceremony was a more sentimental presentation than the fun-filled opening ceremony, which yielded a series of controversies from an apology from Olympic organizers to Kelly Clarkson and Peyton Manning’s panned appearance as NBC opening ceremony co-hosts.
The parade down the river Seine featured plenty of eye-catching moments that sparked online fervor – including one now particularly infamous scene that outraged many Christians, who lambasted its resemblance to Leonardo Da Vinci’s famed Last Supper painting.
In the tableau, a scantily-clad man painted in blue emerged at the center of a table to sing among dancing drag queens. Conservative and Christian leaders were quick to condemn the scene as an offensive parody of imagery and symbolism at the center of their faith, despite the insistence of ceremony organizers that they took inspiration from an ancient pagan festival.
NBC defends performances of Peyton Manning, Kelly Clarkson on opening ceremony
That wasn’t the only issue that drew Olympic-sized backlash.
The performance of Manning and Clarkson during NBC’s broadcast of the 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony drew strong reactions online. But internally, the network was pleased with the broadcast, executives said Thursday during a conference call with reporters.
NBC tabbed Manning and Clarkson as co-hosts alongside Mike Tirico for the once-in-a-lifetime event, but the inclusion was clunky and, overall, not additive, critics said. The broadcast adequately showed the production on the Seine River and other Parisian landmarks.
“We were extremely pleased of our opening ceremony coverage,” NBC Sports Olympics president and executive vice president Molly Solomon said.
Contributing: Chris Bumbaca, Michelle R. Martinelli, Eric Lagatta, Jordan Mendoza and Edward Segarra, USA TODAY
