Pat McAfee addresses Olympic Opening Ceremony controversy: 'Don't love all the drama that was self-created'

ESPN host Pat McAfee was among the throng of Olympics fans who were disappointed by the Opening Ceremony controversy this weekend, which, as he described, was “self-created.” The organizers for the Olympics in Paris attempted an ambitious feat by hosting the opening ceremonies outside of an arena this year, instead putting on a variety of artistic installations along the River Seine.

Certain fans were turned off to the Olympics after part of the opening ceremonies included what some thought to be a recreation of Leonardo da Vinci‘s biblical “The Last Supper” painting, which drew harsh criticism from the Catholic Church and other religious bodies. McAfee addressed the controversy on his show on Monday.

“Whenever we have the biggest platform for sports and competition happening once every four years, we need some sports people to say, ‘Hey, this is a celebration,'” McAfee said. “I understand the history of France had to be told, you do what you need to do… there’s a lot of people who say what (artistic director) Thomas Jolly put together was incredibly disrespectful… that’s a way to view things, a way to take it, a lot of people have said that for good reason, I have no idea how any of this was the start of the Olympics.”

“It was a form of artistic expression… We just want it to revolve around sports,” McAfee continued. “We can’t have the opening ceremony be a reason why people won’t watch these athletes who’ve sacrificed everything about their lives to be great at something and they’re only able to celebrate every four years. There’s something called the Olympic truce… It’s been broken a few times, but you know, you can’t have the opening ceremony starting a war or starting a protest.”

McAfee: Olympics are ‘magic’

McAfee is not among the fans opting to boycott the Olympics following the opening ceremonies. The games are pulling in high ratings as the U.S. leads in the medal count on Monday afternoon.

“When you watch it, it’s magic,” McAfee said. “In the pool, when they start swimming, I feel like I’m watching the Kentucky Derby… I love the Olympic time. Don’t love all the drama that was self-created by the Olympics, but I love that we’re able to watch the great be great.”

Artistic director denies parodying ‘The Last Supper’

Olympics artistic director Thomas Jolly opened up this week about his vision for the much-talked-about “tableau vivant” (or living picture). He told news channel BFMTV on Sunday that the installation was not a parody of ‘The Last Supper,’ but was, in fact, a depiction of Greek gods engaged in a celebration.

“It’s not my inspiration and that should be pretty obvious,” Jolly said. “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.'”

“He is also the god of wine, which is also one of the jewels of France, and the father of Séquana, the goddess of the river Seine,” he continued. “The idea was to depict a big pagan celebration, linked to the gods of Olympus, and thus the Olympics.”

The artistic director went on to say that he never intended to offend or mock with his choices.

“You will never find in me, or in my work, a desire to mock or denigrate anyone,” Jolly said. “My aim was to create a ceremony that heals and a ceremony that reconciles, but also a ceremony that reaffirms the values ​​which are those of our Republic of Liberty, Equality, Fraternity, and absolutely not to mock anyone.”