Was Thomas Jolly, Director of the Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony, Really Hit By Lightning? Exploring Viral Rumor

Was Thomas Jolly, the man who orchestrated the controversial Olympics 2024 opening ceremony, struck by lightning? Here’s all you need to know.

By Natasha Bose

Published on Aug 21, 2024 | 11:29 AM IST | 903.3K

Thomas Jolly, Director of the Olympics 2024 Opening Ceremony (PC: Instagram)

No, Thomas Jolly, "the artist who created the Olympics opening ceremony," was not hospitalized after being hit by lightning. The widely shared claim originated from a fake screenshot of a non-existent AP article. This false claim surfaced in a Facebook reel on August 8, 2024.

The rumor first popped up in English on July 31, with people on social media saying Thomas Jolly, the artist behind the controversial 2024 Paris Olympics opening ceremony, had been struck by lightning.

It all started when a TikTok user, @we_the_people_news2.0, claimed to have found a news clipping from a Paris-based local station. The headline supposedly read, “Artist behind the Paris Olympics opening ceremony hospitalized after freak lightning strike.”

On August 8, the claim reemerged on Facebook, with a user stating, "The artist who created the Olympics opening ceremony that mocked God was hospitalized after a 'freak lightning strike.' 'Do not be deceived: God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap.' (Gal. 6:7)."

Facebook post stating Thomas Jolly was struck by lightning (Via Facebook)

They included a screenshot of an Associated Press News article, allegedly stating that Jolly was hospitalized after being hit by lightning. However, this article doesn't actually exist on the AP News website. The screenshot falsely shows the article under the “World News” category—on August 2, AP News did publish an article in this category featuring Jolly’s photo, but it had an entirely different headline and content.

In reality, the AP did release a report on August 2, 2024, featuring Jolly’s photo just below the headline (archived here). But the real title was: "Police investigating hate speech targeting Olympics opening ceremony artistic director Thomas Jolly."

That misleading screenshot, widely spread on social media and meme websites, was a cropped version of a fake AP report.

Original AP post

French-language media have not confirmed that Jolly was hospitalized after a lightning strike either. Therefore, the story about the artistic director being struck by lightning is pure disinformation, stemming from a fabricated AP News screenshot.

Given how some Catholic groups and French bishops have criticized what they perceived as "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity" in the opening ceremony choreographed by theater director Thomas Jolly, the backlash, and as a result, the rumors, make sense. But they are just that—rumors.

The criticism focused on a scene involving dancers, drag queens, and a DJ in poses resembling depictions of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have shared with his apostles.

"Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group," Paris 2024 spokeswoman Anne Descamps said in an interview.

"If people have taken any offense, we are of course really, really sorry," she added.

Jolly also denied taking inspiration from the Last Supper in his nearly four-hour production, which took place under pouring rain along the River Seine.

The scene, meant to promote tolerance of different sexual and gender identities, also featured French actor Philippe Katerine, who appeared nearly naked and painted blue as Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and pleasure.

"The idea was to do a big pagan party linked to the gods of Olympus," Jolly told the BFM channel.