French football star Kylian Mbappé has issued a public apology following a wave of intense backlash across China over an online joke. While in London attending the Ballon d'Or ceremony, footage emerged of the forward joking about an image that makes him "laugh the most"—a meme in which his face was superimposed onto a "Chinese dictator" resembling Mao Zedong. The clip triggered a massive controversy on Chinese social media, swiftly threatening commercial and sporting interests in a critical global market for football.
The consequences were immediate across the country's sporting and commercial landscape. Chinese brands began severing partnerships with Mbappé, including dairy corporation and official FIFA World Cup sponsor Mengniu, while his Weibo account was blocked from acquiring new followers. Simultaneously, China Media Group, the parent group of state broadcaster CCTV, suspended its broadcasts of Spanish La Liga matches. Amid the escalating situation, a Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson warned that "words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society."
Facing the mounting fallout, Mbappé stated that he was "sincerely sorry" for his "ill-judged" comment, with his club, Real Madrid, and the Spanish league, La Liga, also releasing apologies. Due to China's strict internet censorship, many online users were unable to find out what had specifically occurred, with AI chatbots failing to provide answers and commentators avoiding Mao's name by referencing "the teacher" or "the person on the 100 yuan note." Mao, who died in 1976 after leading the Chinese Communist Party to victory in the civil war, remains a revered figure domestically despite the devastating famines and purges during the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution. Consequently, hostility lingered on Weibo, where one highly rated comment stated: "An apology is the least he should do, but I don't forgive him. I support a ban on him."
Outside of China, the response took a distinctly different turn on platforms such as X, Threads, and Instagram, where users expressed bewilderment at the controversy and some Chinese diaspora members told the forward he had no reason to apologize. While authorities in Beijing later affirmed they were taking Mbappé's apology "seriously," lingering questions remain over the commercial relationship going forward, as China Media Group has yet to announce whether it will lift the suspension on La Liga broadcasts.