(Deutsche Welle Chinese website) Kylian Mbappé said in a statement on Tuesday (October 27): "My remarks were ill-considered. I now realize that they hurt many people in China and the global Chinese community."
He also said: "I apologize to anyone who was offended by my words. This was never my intention. I respect the Chinese people and their history, and I am deeply sorry for this."
Previously, Mbappe was suspected of using the word "dictator" to refer to China's late leader Mao Zedong, which caused controversy for "insulting China".
"China News Weekly" reported on Tuesday night China Central Radio and Television's response to Mbappe's apology, saying that it would "listen to his words and watch his actions" and "hope that La Liga, Real Madrid and Mbappe himself will learn lessons, sincerely apologize and change their past mistakes."
Advertisers cut quickly
Beverage manufacturer Dongpeng Beverage, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese producer Microlando issued separate statements on Tuesday announcing the termination of cooperation with Mbappe. All three companies stated that they emphasized their opposition to and would not tolerate "words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."
The companies did not specify the reasons for terminating cooperation. However, just before the statement was issued, a video showing Mbappe being interviewed in French circulated on the social platform X.
The well-known blogger "Teacher Li is not your teacher" also retweeted the video. The following Chinese subtitles appeared at the beginning of the video: "Which of the emoticons made with your avatar makes you laugh the most?" Mbappe replied: "No, there are too many." Then he added: "Someone took a video of someone. I remember that he seemed to be a Chinese dictator, and then put my face on it." This was interpreted as a reference to the former leader of China, Mao Zedong.
However, Deutsche Welle has not been able to confirm the source and authenticity of the video.
Mbappe is often dubbed the "dictator" on the pitch
Internet fans often jokingly call Mbappe a "dictator". There are also many memes on the Internet that combine Mbappe with authoritarian leaders such as Mao Zedong. Many netizens also often jokingly call Mbappe a "dictator" to describe his influence in "dominating" games on the court.
To this day, Mao Zedong is still revered by many people. However, his political legacy is complex: During his authoritarian rule, he initiated movements such as the Great Leap Forward. This campaign to promote industrialization eventually led to a famine that killed an estimated 30 million people.
In September, Mbappe spoke to French sports newspaper L'Équipe about another meme depicting him as a military dictator. "For some people, it's just good-natured banter. But for other people, it's not that funny because historically, these are the people who have caused harm," he said at the time.
He continued: "To be compared to someone who killed other people or caused misery for millions of people... I don't think I've ever done anything like that in my life."
CCTV "completely suspended"
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said in response to a question on Tuesday: "Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be boycotted by all sectors of Chinese society."
According to The Paper, the state-run media CCTV has "completely suspended" the broadcast of Mbappe's matches in response to Mbappe's "serious negative behavior related to China", and all advertisements and reports involving Mbappe have been removed from the shelves.
"Global Times" published a quick commentary, saying that Mbappe "completely offended China" and "Mbappe deserves to be punished."
Mbappe quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social platforms such as Baidu and Weibo. The two topics "Dongpeng terminates cooperation with Mbappe" and "Many brands terminate cooperation with Mbappe" topped the list of hot searches on Weibo. "Fans boycott Mbappe" has also become a hot topic. Some users expressed anger at his remarks, while others said he was not welcome to come to China.
Social platform Xiaohongshu also joined the chorus of criticism. The platform said in a separate statement that its cooperation with Mbappe had ended on December 31, 2024, and that it would "clear relevant promotional materials." The statement also stated that it opposed "any behavior that hurts national sentiments."
On Tuesday, Mbappe's account on Xiaohongshu was banned from adding new followers.
