PARIS (AP) — As a homosexual youth rising up in central France, Hugo Bardin by no means felt he lived in a world that represented who he was — a world wherein he had a spot.
And that’s the reason Bardin, who performs because the drag queen Paloma, felt it was significant and necessary to be a part of a Paris Olympics opening ceremony that offered a multifaceted, multiethnic France with folks of various ethnicities and orientations.
“It was a really important moment for the French people and the representation of France around the world,” says Paloma, who took half in a single scene that has drawn some livid criticism — together with from presidential candidate Donald Trump in america, who referred to as it “a disgrace.”
Though the ceremony’s creative director, Thomas Jolly, and different contributors have repeatedly stated the scene wasn’t impressed by “The Last Supper,” critics interpreted that a part of the present as a mockery of Leonardo Da Vinci’s portray exhibiting Jesus Christ and his apostles.
Paloma, finest recognized for successful “Drag Race France,” appeared with different drag artists and dancers alongside Barbara Butch, a well-liked DJ who wore a silver headdress that appeared like a halo. Butch has now filed a grievance alleging on-line abuse and harassment, and Paris police have launched an investigation.
Paloma will not be, at this level, planning to take authorized motion over on-line harassment, and would favor to give attention to the numerous “loving messages” which were pouring in. The performer has been getting hundreds of messages every day, she advised The Related Press, most of them constructive however some described as “violent” and even “from the Middle Ages.”
Nonetheless, there aren’t any misgivings, regardless of the backlash. Paloma stated she was proud to have been a part of a present that didn’t depend on a collection of French cliches — for instance, “the Parisian with a baguette under their arm.”
“It could have been a postcard from 1930,” she stated of the ceremony. “But instead, it was a photograph of France in 2024.”
Many agreed, and praised the ceremony for its creativity, model and showmanship.
However French Catholic bishops and others had been amongst those that stated Christians had been offended, although Paris Olympics organizers have stated there was “never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group” however slightly to “celebrate community tolerance.”
Trump was requested on Fox Information what he considered the so-called “Last Supper” scene. “I’m very open-minded,” the previous president and present Republican nominee advised host Laura Ingraham, “but I thought what they did was a disgrace.”
Of Trump’s feedback, Paloma stated: “My first reaction is to say that if Donald Trump is not reacting, then we have not done our job.”
The criticism, she stated, has been fueled by hate. “Where is the Catholicism, the Christianity in that? It is very hypocritical that their message is not about religion or kindness, it’s about hate towards Jews, fat people, queer people and trans people.”
“We have been accused of trying to impose our vision on the world,” Bardin stated. “We are not. … We just want to let people know that we have a place in the world, and we are claiming that place.”
Paloma spoke to the AP in a cellphone interview and later at her Paris workshop, a studio dedicated to her drag efficiency. Bardin debuted the drag queen persona some 5 years in the past, the Spanish title impressed by the movies of Pedro Almodóvar.
Requested if she had any regrets, Paloma replied: “My only regrets is people’s reactions. I’m sorry if people are offended but we did not try to parody, to mock ‘The Last Supper.’ It was not the point. So I can’t regret what I did. I’m sorry for people to only see things in a bad way.”
She added: “Maybe change the perspective. Change the point of view. Try to see the beauty in what we did. Because it was just beauty. It was just only about beauty and reunion, and reparation.”
AP journalists Nicolas Garriga and Amira Borders contributed to this report.
