What is C Spire, the company that pulled Olympic advertising?
The opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics sparked controversy with a segment that parodied Leonardo Da Vinci's famous painting of "The Last Supper" with drag queens, a transgender model and a naked singer portraying the Greek god of wine Dionysus – a scene which prompted one company to withdraw its advertising spending.
C Spire, a tech and telecommunications company based in Ridgeland, Mississippi, wrote in a post on X, "We were shocked by the mockery of the Last Supper during the opening ceremonies of the Paris Olympics. C Spire will be pulling our advertising."
"C Spire is supportive of our athletes who have worked so hard to be a part of the Olympics. However, we will not be a part of the offensive and unacceptable mockery of the Last Supper, which is why we're pulling advertising from the Olympics," C Spire CEO Suzy Hays said in a statement provided to FOX Business.
Paris 2024 spokesperson Anne Descamps apologized for the incident at a press conference and told reporters, "Clearly there was never an intention to show disrespect to any religious group. (The opening ceremony) tried to celebrate community tolerance. We believe this ambition was achieved. If people have taken any offense, we are really sorry."
C Spire, formerly known as Cellular South, offers broadband internet, wireless and cloud services, TV and streaming packages, home phones and managed IT services. Its customers include both households and businesses in the region it serves.
The company's website lists several dozen "Fiber Towns" where its fiber-backed broadband services are available – all of which are located in Alabama and Mississippi.
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C Spire's wireless division offers 5G and 4G LTE mobile services and has customers in Mississippi and parts of Alabama and Tennessee.
The company's TV plans include its own C Spire TV package that offers customers plans with up to 200 channels that can be streamed live or on demand from various devices as well as a Cloud DVR service. It also partners with DIRECTV to offer two packages, including one that offers a Gemini Air universal remote that's powered by Google.
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Its offerings for corporate clients – both small businesses and larger enterprises – include providing internet, WiFi, cloud and data center services, managed IT services, network security and data protection.
C Spire also offers services to multi-family housing developments, working with property owners and managers, condominiums, retirement communities and student housing.
The company's website references strategic partnerships with Cisco, Dell, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, Cisco Meraki, Fortinet, Exagrid and Veeam.
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C Spire is a privately held subsidiary of Telapex, a telecom holding company that is also based in Ridgeland, Mississippi.
Reuters contributed to this report.