Barbara Butch

Barbara Butch (born 17 March 1981) is a French disc jockey and lesbian activist. She campaigns for fat acceptance and has made the short film Extra Large. She was awarded the 2021 "personnalité LGBTI de l'année" ("LGBTI personality of the year") by the French Association of LGBTI Journalists. In 2024, she was featured in the 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, which was criticized as controversial due to the mockery of Christianity.

Early life Barbara Butch was born on 17 March 1981 at the Marie-Louise Clinic in the 9th arrondissement of Paris, where her mother, grandmother and great-grandmother were born before her. Her mother, a secretary of Ashkenazi Jewish descent and her father a house painter, was of Sephardic Jewish descent from Morocco Heidi, and she grew up in a traditional Jewish family. She grew up in the 7th arrondissement of Paris, studied music theory, piano, Brazilian percussion and guitar in her teens, and created her own mixtapes and recorded cassettes. The Eclaireuses et Eclaireurs israélites de France (Jewish Guides and Scouts of France) was a key part of her life during those years.

In July 2026, Butch filed criminal complaints of incitement to hatred and violence, assault, and obstruction of artistic freedom in Grenoble and Paris, after pro-Palestinian protesters shouted insults and threw objects at the stage during her performance at the Cabaret Frappé festival in Grenoble. Grenoble Mayor Éric Piolle said that the city would also file a complaint following the performance disruption.

Controversy

On 26 July 2024, she performed at the Festivité section of the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games, mixing French variété classics in a set featuring actors from the drag queen scene. Art experts at Musée Magnin say that the tableau was inspired by The Feast of the Gods by Jan van Bijlert. Due to that interpretation, the World Council of Churches responded that Christians around the world were angered, with the act being deemed blasphemous by the Catholic Church. Butch received a number of online threats after the performance, and stated through her lawyer that she would be filing legal complaints in response.

The Olympic World Library later published a media guide (written before the ceremony) which mentioned it being a homage to cultural festivities. One Georgian fact checking website, Myth Detector alleged there were differences between the fresco and the segment.