Kylian Mbappé loses Chinese sponsors over joke about a 'Chinese dictator'

Contract terminations

Real Madrid striker and France national team captain Kylian Mbappé lost two major Chinese sponsors on October 27 — the beverage maker Dongpeng and the largest dairy producer Mengniu. Both companies announced the immediate termination of 'all forms of cooperation', citing a policy of zero tolerance for behavior that offends national sentiments and for words and actions that 'hurt the feelings of the Chinese people'. At the same time, as BBC notes, the brands did not directly name the reason for the termination and did not mention the controversial video. The contract terminations were reported by the AFP news agency, which was also cited by Gazeta.Ru with reference to The Guardian.

What triggered the scandal

The trigger was a video from the French talk show The Bridge, in which Mbappé, answering a question about memes portraying him as a 'dictator', called the funniest meme the one where his face is superimposed on an image of 'some guy — I think a Chinese dictator'. The show displayed a meme with his face over an image resembling Mao Zedong. BBC clarifies that Mbappé does not name Mao, the original episode has been removed from the show's YouTube channel, and only unverified screenshots are circulating online. AFP Fact Check was also unable to immediately verify the authenticity of the video. In China, jokes about Mao, who died in 1976, are considered disrespectful and remain a social taboo.

Reaction in China and the player's apology

Attention to the comments was drawn by the Chinese football forum Dongqiudi, which called the player's words offensive to China and the Chinese people. The topic 'Dongpeng ends cooperation with Mbappé' became the most discussed on Weibo. China's Foreign Ministry also reacted: according to spokesperson Lin Jian, 'words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally meet with opposition from all strata of Chinese society'. According to The Paper, cited by BBC, state broadcaster CCTV is suspending broadcasts of La Liga matches, and content about the footballer has disappeared from the channel's news apps. On Tuesday, Mbappé issued a statement: 'My remark was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and Chinese communities around the world. I apologize to everyone whom my words upset,' — euronews quotes him as saying. Neither the player himself nor the show The Bridge had commented on the situation previously, according to BBC at the time of its publication.

Context

The contract terminations came as a sharp turn for the 27-year-old footballer, who had previously been extremely popular in China, had millions of followers on local social media and the nickname 'Guigui' ('Little Turtle') — after a meme about the 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles'. During this year's World Cup, Chinese viewers were regularly shown Dongpeng ads with AI-generated images of Mbappé holding the brand's drink. The scandal occurred the day after Mbappé lost to Harry Kane in the Ballon d'Or — 2026 vote and was once again left without the award he has never won. Earlier, in September, in an interview with L'Equipe and France Football, the footballer had already spoken about the 'dictator' memes, noting that they had a funny side, but that the comparison with people who caused suffering to millions was unpleasant to him.