French authorities have opened an investigation into suspected hate crimes against the artistic director of the Paris Olympics' opening ceremony.

Prosecutors in Paris said on Friday that Thomas Jolly filed a criminal complaint over death threats he allegedly received online. He has been at the center of a controversy regarding some of the performances he produced for the ceremony.

During the July 26 ceremony, Olympic delegations paraded on boats along the River Seine in the first Summer Games opening to take place outside a stadium. However, some of the performances presented in the pageant drew criticism from home and abroad.

In particular, a sequence with performers posing as drag queens and others standing along a long table set off condemnation from Catholic church leaders and conservatives. They said the presentation was a parody of Leonardo da Vinci's depiction of the famous biblical scene, "The Last Supper", and represented a mockery of Christianity.

Jolly has repeatedly denied he was inspired by "The Last Supper." In the complaint, he claimed that he had received the death threats on account of his sexual orientation.

France's President Emmanuel Macron stepped in on Friday by releasing a statement saying nothing justifies threatening an artist.