As we discussed last week, a lot of the usual suspects had their panties in a twist over the Paris Olympics opening ceremony, loudly denouncing the segment called “Festivity.” The haters insisted it was a denigration of Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” — because the scene celebrated inclusivity with drag and queer performers — even after the folks who designed the show spelled out how it was actually a reference to Dionysus, Greek god of festivities. Again, for the “Festivity” segment. But what are facts in the face of indignation? RuPaul’s Drag Race alum Nicky Doll was among the artists in the infamous scene, and she’s now suing Laurence Fox, a British actor turned ”political activist,” for his hateful tweet about the performance, that included defamatory name-calling of the artists involved. Victoire pour Mme. Poupée!

French celebrity drag queen and tv presenter Nicky Doll is suing Laurence Fox for defamation over pedophile comments he made about drag artists appearing in the opening ceremony of the 2024 Olympics in Paris.

The action comes just three months after UK actor Fox, who is now better known as a controversial political activist TV presenter, was ordered to pay £180,000 ($220,000) in damages to former RuPaul’s Drag Race UK contestant Crystal (Colin Seymour) and charity trustee Simon Blake, after he called them “pedophiles” on social media.

Nicky Doll, whose birth name is Karl Sanchez, was among a group of drag artists appearing in a scene entitled ‘Festivity’, celebrating inclusion and diversity. It was among 12 tableaux celebrating the French spirit woven into the Olympics opening ceremony on July 26.

Fox responded to the tableau with a clip and caption which read: “No point in getting wound up when the child f**kers want to wind you up. Just laugh at the deviant little pedos. Eternity is a b***h.”

The ‘Festivity’ tableau also provoked controversy after it was erroneously suggested it was a representation of Leonardo da Vinci’s iconic painting The Last Supper, capturing Jesus Christ’s final meal with his apostles. The ceremony’s artistic director Thomas Jolly has since denied this suggestion, saying it was inspired by Greek mythology.

“The practice has, at the request of Mr Karl Sanchez, aka Nicky Doll, filed a defamation complaint against Mr Laurence Fox and other users of the social platform X (ex-Twitter),” the artist’s lawyer Anne-Sophie Laguens said in a statement.

“Nicky Doll, who for years has received insults and hate messages, has been subjected to an unprecedented wave of hate and nastiness, going up to death threats, since her performance in the Festivity tableau,” it continued.

“These messages go beyond artistic criticism, with some of them conveying a mixture of hate and defamation, associating drag performances with pedophilia. These comparisons are serious and unacceptable.”

“This is the reason for this action. Any publication or message suggesting Nicky Doll’s performance encourages pedophile practices will be flagged.”

The defamation action follows news on Friday that the Paris Prosecutor’s Office had opened an investigation into an official police complaint by artistic director Jolly about insults and death threats he has received in the wake of the opening ceremony.

French DJ Barbara Butch, who also participated in the Festivity segment, also lodged a police complaint earlier this week.

France’s President Emmanual Macron spoke up in support of Jolly on Friday, praising the “audacity” of the show, and saying he was “scandalized” and “sad” about what the theatre director had been through.

Nicky Doll, whose stage name is a tribute to Nicki Minaj, broke out internationally in 2020 when she appeared in season 12 of RuPaul’s Drag Race, as its first French contender.

Since 2022, Nicky Doll has been the host of Drag Race France and was recently a commentator for the Eurovision Song Contest 2024 semi-finals.

[From Deadline]

Laurence Fox upended his successful acting career and marriage to Billie Piper in 2016 when he went whole hog into being an extremist, right-wing fanatic whose primary “work” is now ranting on TV and online. He also launched two failed runs for London mayor (one he lost by the votes, the second by filling out the forms wrong). Faithful CB readers will recognize Fox as the blonde straw that finally broke the white camel’s back on Dan Wootten’s GB News talk show (and British media career at large) last fall. Contrast that with Nicky Doll’s nascent TV career, and it’s a tale of two commentators. I’m glad people are taking Fox to court over his vile tweets, and I hope Nicky’s lawsuit leads to Fox being held financially accountable to drag queens on both sides of the English Channel.

In the meantime, no point in getting wound up when a misogynist racist wants to wind you up. Just laugh at the asinine little bigot. Being held liable for hundreds of thousands of dollars in damages is a bitch.

Some are angry about the "anti-Christian depiction of the last supper" at the Olympic Opening ceremony. (@elonmusk and @realDonaldTrump among others)

A Dutch art historian explains it's not the last supper but a Dutch painting of the Olympic gods.
And I explain what I loved.
🧵 pic.twitter.com/ZMftlt7dTO

— AukeHoekstra (@AukeHoekstra) July 28, 2024

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photos credit: IMAGO/Dave Bedrosian / Avalon, Imageplotter / Avalon