France forward Kylian Mbappe apologised on Tuesday after facing backlash over a viral video in which he appeared to joke about Mao Zedong. Several major Chinese brands have reportedly dropped the footballer following the controversy.
The row escalated after state-owned China Media Group (CMG) announced that Chinese state television would suspend broadcasts of La Liga matches. The Spanish league has also issued an apology over Mbappe's remarks, as the incident sparked a major fallout in China.
“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappe said in a statement Tuesday.
“I apologise to everyone my words have upset," he said. "This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry."
In the video that sparked the controversy, Mbappe, who finished second in the Ballon d'Or this year, said the funniest internet meme he had seen featuring him showed his face photoshopped onto that of "some guy -- I think he's a Chinese dictator".
The remark appeared to refer to a meme in which the French forward’s face was superimposed on an image of Mao Zedong.
{{/usCountry}}The remark appeared to refer to a meme in which the French forward’s face was superimposed on an image of Mao Zedong.
{{/usCountry}}La Liga said 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."
China's broadcaster CCTV took a more measured stance following Mbappe's apology, saying it would consider his response but place greater importance on his actions going forward. It also urged La Liga, Real Madrid and the France captain to reflect on the incident, apologise sincerely and correct their mistakes.
"We hope La Liga, Real Madrid, and Mbappe himself will genuinely learn a lesson from this, offer a sincere apology, and thoroughly correct their mistakes," CCTV said in a statement.
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China brands drop Mbappe for offending national sentiments
In China, jokes about Mao, the country's founding leader who died in 1976 -- and whose drastic policies are blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths -- remain taboo.
Beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year's World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe consuming its sport drink, said it was terminating cooperation with the France captain.
"Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments," Dongpeng said in a statement.
Mengniu, China's largest dairy producer, and cheesemaker Milkground also said that they were cutting ties with Mbappe, who until now was hugely popular among Chinese fans with millions of social media followers.