Kylian Mbappe apologises for Mao Zedong comment after Chinese sponsors drop him - The Straits Times

A video circulating online shows the French football star Kylian Mbappe joking about former leader Mao Zedong.

BEIJING – Kylian Mbappe apologised on Oct 27, after major Chinese brands dropped him earlier in the day following the circulation of a video of the Real Madrid and France superstar apparently joking about Mao Zedong.

There were also signs of broader repercussions, with state-run The Paper reporting that public TV was suspending broadcasts of matches from Spain’s La Liga.

The offending video shows Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen involving him was of his face photoshopped onto that of “some guy – I think he’s a Chinese dictator”.

This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, one of several using the footballer’s face and other historical figures.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified by AFP Fact Check.

Mbappe said in a statement in French, Chinese and English: “My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologise to everyone my words have upset.”

Spain’s La Liga also apologised, saying it “deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappe’s recent comments have caused among Chinese fans. These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent La Liga.”

In China, jokes about Mao, the country’s founding leader who died in 1976 – and whose drastic policies are also blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths – remain taboo.

Beverage giant Dongpeng, which ran advertisements with AI-generated images of Mbappe consuming its sports drink during the 2026 World Cup, said it was terminating all cooperation with France’s captain.

“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” it said in a statement.

Mengniu, China’s largest dairy producer, and cheesemaker Milkground also said they were cutting ties with Mbappe, who was hugely popular among Chinese fans with millions of followers on social media.

Mbappe is fondly nicknamed “guigui”, the Chinese translation of “turtle”, due to his popularity as a character in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles meme.

“Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe” was the top trending topic on Chinese social media site Weibo with 430 million views.

One Weibo user said the “extremely serious wrong remarks... crossed the red line”.

Others urged Dongpeng to remove Mbappe’s image from the energy drink bottles.

Dongqiudi, one of China’s biggest online football outlets, said in a statement in the evening of Oct 26 that Mbappe’s remarks were “offensive to China and the Chinese people”.

In an interview with French sports newspaper L’Equipe in September, Mbappe addressed a previous meme depicting him as a military dictator.

“There’s a part of it that’s funny... but there is another part that’s a bit less funny because of the damage such people have caused throughout history,” the 27-year-old footballer said.

When asked on Oct 27 about the controversy, China’s Foreign Ministry said it was aware of the reports.

“Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with unanimous rejection from all sectors of Chinese society,” spokesman Guo Jiakun told a regular briefing.

The Paper cited sources at the state broadcaster saying that CCTV has suspended all broadcasts of La Liga matches and all advertisements involving Mbappe have been removed.

On the CCTV website, searches for “Mbappe” returned no results, although there were still results for “Real Madrid”.

La Liga matches this weekend were still on its online viewing schedule.

Global sports stars who have commented on sensitive topics such as Taiwan, Tibet and Hong Kong have previously caused controversy in China and have been dumped by sponsors there.

China suspended sponsorship deals with the NBA while the state broadcaster pulled NBA games off Chinese TV for a year in October 2019.

This followed Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey tweeting “Fight for freedom, stand with Hong Kong”, referring to protests Beijing called separatist and seditious.

Earlier, Adam Zhang, founder of the Beijing-based sports consultancy firm Key-Solution Sports Consulting, said Mbappe’s team needed to act quickly to manage the growing crisis.

“It’s crucial to make a sincere statement. The sooner, the better,” Zhang, who has advised many companies on sports advertising strategies, told AFP.

Fans made their feelings clear. “I used to really enjoy watching Mbappe play on the pitch,” said Zhang Jingqi, 30, who works at a mall in central Beijing.

“But ever since this news broke yesterday, I have lost that admiration, sorry to say.” AFP