Olympics Opening Ceremony DJ Files Police Complaint After Facing “Vile” Death And Rape Threats From Controversial Drag Performance

One of the performers who starred in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony’s controversial drag performance has reportedly filed a number of police reports after becoming the target of a “vile” harassment campaign.

French DJ Barbara Butch starred in a performance that was mistaken by viewers as an interpretation of Leonardo da Vinci’s The Last Supper . Butch, who some may recognize as the woman wearing the silver headpiece at the center of the performance, shared a statement from her attorney on social media to announce that she is taking legal action against the targeted harassment she’s facing online.

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“Since the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games artist, DJ, and activist Barbara Butch has been the target of an in an extremely violent campaign of cyber-harassment and defamation,” Butch’s attorney Audrey Msellati said in the statement. Butch has reportedly been “threatened with death, torture, and rape, and has also been the target of numerous anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and anti-grossophobic insults.”

The statement later notes: “She is today filing several complaints against these acts, whether committed by French nationals or foreigners, and intends to prosecute anyone who tries to intimidate her in the future.”

The performance, which was entitled “Festivity,” was a colorful number starring Nicky Doll and other Drag Race France contestants. The controversial performance drew criticism from viewers who felt it was meant to “mock” Christianity.

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But the ceremony’s artistic director denied that, saying the performance was instead inspired by Greek mythology and meant to celebrate the gods of Olympus, not The Last Supper . Others have speculated that it is actually more reminiscent of Jan van Bijlert’s painting The Feast of the Gods.

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“It’s not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious,” Thomas Jolly explained during a television appearance after the controversy, per Deadline . “There’s Dionysus arriving on a table. Why is he there? First and foremost because he is the god of celebration in Greek mythology and the tableau is called ‘Festivity’… The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”

Butch later shared a statement of her own, writing that she was “extremely honored” to participate in the performance.

“Today, however, I’m the target of yet another – particularly violent – cyberharassment,” she said. “Although at first I decided not to speak out to let the haters cool down, the messages I receive are increasingly extreme. All because I’ve had the honor of representing my country’s diversity through art and music, alongside other artists and performers I admire.”

She maintained that she “will fight them without ever trembling.”

The performance has been criticized by many, including Full House alum Candace Cameron Bure .

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