Two major Chinese companies break their contracts with Kylian Mbappé, accusing him of having “hurt national feelings”

Hard blow for the “Kyks”. Two large Chinese companies, Dongpeng and Mengniu, announced on Tuesday October 27 that they were breaking off their cooperation with Kylian Mbappé in reaction to a video circulating online in which the French football star appears to joke about former historic leader Mao Zedong. Information which comes for the Real Madrid striker just a few hours after coming second in the 2026 Ballon d'Or, behind the Englishman Harry Kane.

It all starts from an interview given to The Bridge, a show hosted by Aurélien Tchouaméni, teammate of Kylian Mbappé at Real Madrid. To the question: "What is the Internet meme with your face that made you laugh the most?", the captain of the French team responds, smiling: "The one where I laughed the most was a video with a Chinese dictator... I use it a lot with my friends when I play on the console." An example, among many others of montages with historical figures, which caricatures the allegedly authoritarian character of the captain of the France team in the locker room.

“Learn to respect us if you want to do business here”

Kylian Mbappé here refers to a photo montage where we see him caricatured as Mao Zedong, the founder of communist China, an untouchable figure in the country. Mao, the "Great Helmsman" who died in 1976, was the leader of the communist revolution and proclaimed the People's Republic in 1949. On social networks, there was an outcry: Internet users were demanding an official apology. “Learn to respect us if you want to do business here,” we can for example read on Weibo, the main Chinese social network.

“Our company firmly opposes any behavior that hurts national sentiments and implements a zero-tolerance policy in this regard,” beverage giant Dongpeng said in a statement. “We are terminating with immediate effect any collaboration with Kylian Mbappé,” she added. This contract was signed last April and displayed the Frenchman's face on buses and stations in China.

Ditto for Mengniu, a big name in dairy products in China, published a similar press release almost word for word at short intervals. The brand has already started to delete its advertisements with the footballer from the networks. Dongqiudi, a major site specializing in football, slammed the words as “offensive to China and the Chinese people”. They "hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans and the Chinese people."