(TibetanReview.net, Oct27’26) – French football star Kylian Mbappé has faced severe backlash from China after he jokingly remarked that the funniest internet meme he had seen was that of his face photo-shopped onto that of a “Chinese dictator”, taken as an unmistakable reference to Mao Zedong, Communist China’s founding father.
In China, jokes about Mao, the country’s founding leader who died in 1976, are considered disrespectful and remain a social taboo. There is also a law in China which punished people who show disrespect toward the country’s heroes.
Mbappé reportedly told French talk show The Bridge that a meme “that makes me laugh the most…the one where there’s a video of a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator”. As he speaks, a meme appears with his face superimposed on an image resembling Mao, noted bbc.com Oct 27.
“I use it with my friends all the time,” the Real Madrid forward and the French national team captain is stated to add in clips that have been circulating online.
Mbappé does not identify Mao by name and the original video is no longer on the show’s YouTube channel, but screengrabs have spread on Chinese social media.
Chinese state broadcaster, CCTV, is suspending La Liga matches, Chinese media outlet The Paper has reported on Oct 27.
China’s official globaltimes.cn said Oct 27 that Chinese netizens had called on Mbappé to apologize over his erroneous remarks about China. It said at least three Chinese companies had terminated their cooperation with him while media platforms had taken out content related to the globally popular football star.
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“The meme appeared to mock a revered historical figure in China and sparked widespread criticism on Chinese social media. For many Chinese fans, the remark was a disrespectful reference to a figure central to their country’s modern history. The collateral damage is likely to be considerable for Mbappé as many Chinese companies, including Dongpeng Beverage, Mengniu Dairy and RedNote, or Xiaohongshu, have reportedly begun distancing themselves from him,” reported China’s official chinadaily.com.cn Oct 27.
The report said Mbappé had scored an own goal with his off-the-cuff remark.
China’s foreign ministry has also weighed in, with spokesperson Lin Jian saying, as reported by bbc.com: “We have noted the relevant reports. Words and deeds that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with opposition from all sectors of Chinese society.”
And sure enough, several Chinese brands have dropped him amid backlash from Chinese netizens.
Some users have accused Mbappé – who is very popular in China and has huge brand endorsements – of “profiting from the Chinese market yet making remarks that offend the Chinese public”, the report noted.
The country’s largest dairy producer, Mengniu, has said it “firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”.
Also, drinks giant Dongpeng, has said: “Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments.”
But since the brands have not mentioned the controversial clip, some users on social media have been also asking what exactly Mbappé had said or done that was offensive. But then none in China, including officials or the official media, have mentioned “Mao” while condemning Mbappé.
Mbappé and The Bridge are yet to comment.