Macron: France gave face of what it is at Olympics opening

French President Emmanuel Macron has spoken out in support of Thomas Jolly, the artistic director of the Olympics’ opening ceremony, who has faced vitriolic criticism from conservatives and has filed a police complaint alleging death threats and cyber harassment, Report informs via Variety.

Jolly filed a complaint on July 30, the same day that the DJ of the ceremony, known as Barbara Butch, also filed a complaint for cyber harassment.

The opening ceremony has been the subject of backlash from the Catholic Church as well as from prominent conservative figures like Rob Schneider and Candace Cameron Bure, who objected to a scene that seemed to riff on Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting “The Last Supper.”

Jolly told French outlet BFMTV over the weekend that the segment was in fact not inspired by “The Last Supper,” and was instead a tribute to Greek mythology, but it has continued to stoke controversy.

While visiting an Olympic site at the Invalides, Macron was quoted by news outlet AFP saying “nothing justifies that an artist be threatened. The French were very proud of this ceremony. France gave the face of what it is — it showed its audacity and it did so with the freedom it needed.”

Butch, who took part in the scene that appeared to be inspired by “The Last Supper,” announced earlier this week on Instagram that she had been “the target of an extremely violent campaign of cyber-harassment and defamation.”