Jodie Sweetin challenged the backlash over the Olympics opening ceremony banquet scene that upset her Full House co-star Candace Cameron Bure.
The 42-year-old actress, who played Stephanie Tanner, took to social media on Monday after Bure, 48, blasted the controversial tableau at the Olympics that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’.
Sweetin on Monday shared a post on Instagram Stories questioning the uproar over The Last Supper comparison.
The post, which was originally shared by influencer Matt Bernstein, read: ‘the drag queens at the olympics were re-creating the feast of dionysus, not the last supper. and even if you thought it was a christian reference – what’s the harm? why is it a “parody” and not a tribute? can drag queens not be christian too?’
Sweetin also shared video mocking the backlash with a comedian explaining how the tableau depicted Dionysus. ‘Tell me you don’t know about art or history, without TELLING me you don’t know about art and history…’ Sweetin wrote alongside the video.
Jodie Sweetin, shown in January on Instagram, challenged the backlash over the Olympics opening ceremony banquet scene that upset her Full House co-star Candace Cameron Bure
Bure, a devout Christian, took to her Instagram on Sunday to share her thoughts on the imagery the sparked massive backlash after it appeared during the opening ceremony at the Olympics in Paris.
Friday’s showpiece drew some criticism for a banquet scene where an actor playing Greek god Dionysus took centre stage on a table with drag queens, which has been interpreted to resemble The Last Supper painting.
Bure blasted the tableau as ‘disgusting’ and said it made her both ‘sad’ and ‘mad’ as she spoke out against the piece with her social media followers.
In her impassioned video, Bure first began by describing how much she enjoyed the Olympics and her own personal connection to the games – before she opened up about her offense.
‘The Olympic Games have always brought me so much joy. It’s the best of the best athletes in the world competing for the title.
‘So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that’s gonna take place over the next two weeks and see the opening ceremonies completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting.’
‘And it made me so sad. And someone said, “You shouldn’t be sad. You should be mad about it.” And I’m like, “Trust me. It makes me mad.” But I’m more sad, because I’m sad for souls.’
She captioned the post: ‘You asked me to make this shareable on story, so here it is. My take on the Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.
Candace Cameron Bure blasted the controversial tableau at the Olympics that evoked Leonardo da Vinci’s ‘The Last Supper’
Meanwhile, Bure’s Full House co-star, Jodie Sweetin, did not share Bure’s viewpoint on the matter
Sweetin also shared video mocking the backlash with a comedian explaining how the tableau depicted Dionysus
Bure took to social media to share her anger over the depiction
Friday’s showpiece drew some criticism for a banquet scene where an actor playing Greek god Dionysus took centre stage on a table with drag queens, which has been interpreted to resemble The Last Supper painting
‘Since posting, many have tried to correct me saying it wasn’t about an interpretation of DaVinci’s The Last Supper, but a Greek god and the festival of Dionysus; who is a god of lust, insanity, religious ecstasy, ritual madnes etc. I still don’t see how that relates to unifying the world through competitive sports and acceptable for children to watch.
‘In any case, I’m not buying it. I hope you’ll listen all the way through. God loves each and every one of you and His desire is for you to know Him. I won’t stop praying and calling on Jesus’ name.’
Paris 2024 organiser Anne Descamps has since apologised for any offence caused by religious depictions during the opening ceremony.
Some religious groups condemned the ceremony, including the Catholic Church in France who said it included ‘scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity’.
The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly has denied that The Last Supper served as inspiration for the performance, he told BFMTV, according to Deadline.
In a press conference on Sunday, Descamps apologised for any offence caused and insisted that the ceremony intended to ‘celebrate community tolerance’.
‘Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group,’ she said. ‘On the contrary, I think Thomas Jolly did try to intend to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved, if people have taken any offence, we of course are really sorry.’
‘So to watch such an incredible and wonderful event that’s gonna take place over the next two weeks and see the opening ceremonies completely blaspheme and mock the Christian faith with their interpretation of the Last Supper was disgusting,’ Bure said
The International Olympic Committee later said in a statement: ‘The IOC has taken note of and welcomes the clarification given by the Paris 2024 Organising Committee regarding the Opening Ceremony.
‘In the daily press briefing, the Organising Committee said that there was never any intention to show disrespect towards any religious group or belief.
‘They reiterated that their intention with the Opening Ceremony was always to celebrate community and tolerance. The Organising Committee also said that if anyone was offended by certain scenes, this was completely unintentional and they were sorry.’
Sweetin and Tanner both starred in Full House from 1987 to 1995 and in the sequel Fuller House from 2016 to 2020.
