Posts exaggerate Paris power outage after Olympics opening ceremony

Paris opened the 2024 Olympics on July 26 with a four-hour-long ceremony held outdoors for the first time as more than 7,000 athletes sailed down the River Seine and artists took part in a wide range of performances (archived here).

The ceremony drew controversy over a scene involving dancers, drag queens and a DJ in poses that to some viewers recalled depictions of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have taken with his apostles according to the Bible.

Some Catholic groups and French bishops condemned what they saw as "scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity" (archived here).

The ceremony's choreographer, Thomas Jolly, denied taking inspiration from the Last Supper, and organisers apologised for any offense caused (archived here).

The night after the opening ceremony, some parts of Paris fell dark, leading to a slew of social media posts claiming the city had experienced a “major power outage for mocking God”.

“Breaking News: Major power outages occur in Paris 24 hours after drag queens mock God during the Opening Ceremony,” reads a Facebook post published on July 28, 2024. “‘God is not to be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap.’ (Gal. 6:7).”

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A screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 31, 2024

An image beneath the text in the graphic shows storm clouds gathering over the Eiffel Tower while a cyclist pedals in the foreground.

The same claim was shared in other Facebook posts (see here and here) as well as on TikTok (see here and here).

Another Facebook post shared a similar claim but the picture it used featured the brightly lit Basilica of the Sacré-Cœur in Paris amid the blackout.

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A screenshot of the misleading post, taken on July 31, 2024

The post claimed the only building unaffected by the power outage was the basilica. 

Both claims, however, are misleading.

Old unrelated image

A reverse image search of the first photo with the Eiffel Tower was taken by an AFP photographer in 2020 during the Covid-19 lockdown.

“A man rides a bicycle past the Trocadero Esplanade as dark rain clouds loom over the Eiffel Tower in Paris on May 9, 2020, on the 54th day of a lockdown in France aimed at curbing the spread of Covid-19, caused by the novel coronavirus,” the AFP caption reads.

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A screenshot of the AFP image, taken on July 31, 2024

Furthermore, the description of the blackout that occurred the day after the opening ceremony as “major” is exaggerated.

Enedis, a power distributor in Paris, confirmed a power outage occurred in some parts of the French capital, but said the electricity was restored within 10 minutes (archived here).

The incident was reported on June 27, just before midnight.

“Yesterday evening at 11:30 pm, a network incident due to a technical anomaly caused power cuts in several districts of Paris. All customers were restored within 10 minutes maximum. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” Enedis wrote on X.

The company explained to local media outlets (here and here, in French) that “nearly 85,000 customers” located in four of Paris' 20 districts -- the 1st, 9th, 17th, and 18th districts -- had been affected by the power failures (archived here and here).

The Eiffel Tower, the famous monument situated in the 7th district of Paris, was unaffected.

A search of the second image, of the brightly lit basilica, led to posts on X here and here attributing the power failure -- without evidence -- to sabotage.

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A screenshot of two posts sharing the image of the lit Catholic church, taken on July 31, 2024

The church is brightly lit while most of the buildings in the forefront of the image are in the dark. However, a close look around the church -- which is in the distance -- shows that many of the buildings in that neighborhood also have lights on. 

The claims of sabotage followed hot on the heels of coordinated arson attacks on several rail lines hours before the opening ceremony that featured entertainers Lady Gaga, Franco-Malian R&B star Aya Nakamura and Canadian singer Celine Dion (archived here).