Paris Olympics artistic director Thomas Jolly Photo: Screenshot AP
Seven people in France have been arrested and charged for allegedly cyberbullying the artistic director of the Paris Olympics this summer, French authorities announced last Friday.
The Paris prosecutor’s office said the arrests were the “first wave” in a series of prosecutions they intend to carry out in the aftermath of a coordinated campaign threatening Thomas Jolly, the mastermind of the opening and closing ceremonies at the XXXIII Olympiad in July and August.
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Jolly and prosecutors say the homophobic and antisemitic abuse online escalated quickly following the opening ceremony set along the Seine River through the heart of the City of Light, which featured drag queens, a performance by Lady Gaga, and a scene that detractors described as a sacrilegious depiction of Jesus’ Last Supper. Jolly denied that the tableau was based on Jesus’ final meal, saying instead that it was meant to depict a Dionysian feast.
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The seven individuals charged face counts of death threats, aggravated insults, and cyberbullying, and could face prison time, the Associated Press reports. The individuals range in age from 22 to 79.
At a September government hearing addressing the controversy, Jolly made a distinction between constructive criticism and discriminatory criminal intent.
“Critique, that’s my life,” he said, “… but when it involves discrimination, it becomes criminal.”
Jolly defended his vision as neither meant to offend nor disrespect religion. He also expressed disbelief that it was taken as such.
“I didn’t set out to mock any religion,” he said, noting that the ceremonies’ references to Notre Dame cathedral were an homage to France’s cultural heritage, not a sacrilegious indictment.
In another defense, the artistic director said, “My wish isn’t to be subversive, nor to mock or to shock. Most of all, I wanted to send a message of love, a message of inclusion and not at all to divide.”
The mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, went further in comments after the Olympics concluded in August, saying, “F**k the reactionaries, f**k this far-right, f**k all of those who would like to lock us into a war of all against all.”
The prosecutor’s office said the online harassment is part of a larger trend in France directed at public figures, highlighting the abuse and death threats against Jolly as an example of other campaigns to “intimidate and silence expressions of inclusivity” and diversity, and using a highly public and symbolic event to do so.
The disturbing “pack behavior” of attackers acting independently to escalate the harassment, seen in Jolly’s case, reflects a pattern in other online hate campaigns, they said.
The seven accused are scheduled to appear in court next on March 5.
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