France and Real Madrid superstar Kylian Mbappe issued an apology on Tuesday after landing in hot water after he was dropped by a string of Chinese brands following a backlash to his alleged comments about a meme featuring an image resembling China’s late leader Mao Zedong.
“During a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself. 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. This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry,” Mbappe posted on X.
In a video that emerged online on Monday, Mbappe is heard saying the funniest meme he had seen of himself was one where his face had been morphed onto that of “a Chinese dictator”.
Mao, the founder of the People’s Republic of China, is idolized by many as the nation’s saviour, and jokes about him are considered taboo. He died in 1976.
On Tuesday, the Spanish league also distanced itself from Mbappe’s comments and apologized to Chinese fans. “LALIGA deeply regrets the offence that Kylian Mbappé’s recent comments have caused among Chinese fans. These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent LALIGA. Within the scope of our institutional responsibility, we apologize on behalf of LALIGA and all its clubs,” LaLiga said in a statement.
Meanwhile, in a statement posted on China’s Weibo social media platform, Eastroc Beverage, which featured Mbappe’s face on its drinks, said it firmly opposed “behaviour that hurts national sentiment”. “Effective immediately, we are ending all cooperation with Kylian Mbappe,” it added. Dairy companies Mengniu and Milkground also ended their cooperation with Mbappe.
In an interview with L’Equipe last month, Mbappe said that while some aspects of the trend were harmless fun, the viral memes depicting him as a dictator showed “a lack of political and human awareness”.
China’s state television has halted broadcasts of all matches and events involving LaLiga and Mbappe, and all advertisements involving Mbappe have been removed, state-backed media outlet the Paper reported on Tuesday.