Recently, Polish journalist and sports commentator Przemyslaw Babiarz was suspended from the Paris Olympics after he suggested that John Lennon’s controversial song “Imagine” is a “vision of communism.” During the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, the song written by the former Beatles musician was sung by a French singer in one scene that took place over the Seine River last week.
As the performance was being broadcast, Babiarz stated on air, “This is a vision of communism, unfortunately.” The reporter’s comments evidently struck a nerve with some viewers in Poland. Subsequently, the public broadcast network that Babiarz worked for, TVP, issued a statement that he would no longer be covering the Olympic games.
The John Lennon tune featured rhetoric commonly associated with radical leftism, such as anti-religious sentiment. The opening lyrics to the song state, “Imagine there’s no heaven / It’s easy if you try / No hell below us / Above us, only sky.” The song also dreams of a time and place where abolishing private property would solve the world’s problems. “Imagine no possessions / I wonder if you can / No need for greed or hunger /A brotherhood of man,” the lyrics continue.
According to reports, the statement emphasized principles such as “tolerance” and “reconciliation” that Polish television aspires to embrace. “Mutual understanding, tolerance, reconciliation — these are not only the basic Olympic ideas, they are also the basis for the standards that guide the new Telewizja Polska (Polish Television),’” the statement supposedly read.
The independent Polish news outlet, Notes From Poland, posted on X, “Polish state TV has suspended its main commentator for the Olympics after he said on air that the song “Imagine,” which was played at the opening ceremony, presents a “communist vision”. The decision has been widely criticized, including by President Duda.”
Conservative President Andrzej Duda and former Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki criticized TV’s decision to suspend the reporter over the comment on communism.“The truth will defend itself! Your actions will be remembered, and censorship will fail,” Morawiecki wrote on X. Many other commentators voiced a similar sentiment that Babiarz’s punishment was too harsh.
The controversial displays during the opening ceremony have drawn varying responses. The American Tribune recently reported on commentary from “The View” co-host Whoopi Goldberg, who was dismissive of the Christian backlash to the performance. She instructed those offended by the alleged mockery to “just turn off the TV.”
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“If you are not happy with something, and it bothers you, don’t take 20 hours to write an email. Just turn the TV off. Watch something else. Put the newspaper down. Don’t look at the pictures. These are choices, you know, we’re back to this thing. These are our choices. You have the ability. Forget what Instagram is telling you. If you don’t like it, go to something else,” Goldberg said.
Goldberg continued, “Come on, y’all. It’s the Olympics. Stop. They’re not trying to do anything except talk about the history. They’re showing you the history. There are too many people in the picture for it to be the 12 disciples and then the seven or eight other people in the picture.” Watch the commentary from the recent segment of “The View” below:
Featured image credit: Ibex73, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Olympic_rings_on_the_Eiffel_Tower_2024_(10).jpg