Mbappe boycotted in China over his joke about a "dictator"
Real Madrid forward and France national team captain Kylian Mbappé has found himself at the center of a controversy in China. This was caused by his remarks regarding a meme in which his face was superimposed onto the image of the Chinese leader. Severe measures were taken in response: sponsors terminated their cooperation with the footballer, his pages on Chinese social networks were blocked, and the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs commented on the situation.
Mbappe boycotted in China over "dictator" joke
The conflict was sparked by a clip from the French podcast The Bridge, in which the footballer talked about the funniest meme about himself. He spoke about a video where his face was combined with the image of a person he apparently called a "Chinese dictator." Mbappe did not mention the name of the former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, but in China, these words were perceived as an insult to the founder of the modern state.
The Dongpeng (Eastroc) beverage company and the dairy giant Mengniu were the first to announce the termination of their contracts. Following this, the cheese manufacturer Milkground also refused further cooperation. Against the backdrop of these events, Eastroc shares dropped by up to 4.1 percent on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, while Mengniu lost about 3 percent in Hong Kong.
The restrictions also affected the media sector. According to reports, the CCTV channel pulled advertisements featuring the player from the air, stopped broadcasting matches in which he participated, and deleted posts related to him from its Weibo page. Mbappe's official pages on the Weibo and Xiaohongshu networks, each with nearly a million followers, were flagged for violations and restricted. Meanwhile, the sports portal Dongqiudi refused to translate the footballer's words, calling them insulting to China.
At a briefing on October 27, Foreign Ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun was asked about the conflict. He emphasized that words and actions that offend the feelings of the Chinese people inevitably face unanimous resistance from the entire society. However, the diplomat did not speak of any specific measures.
That same day, Mbappe apologized to everyone offended by his words and admitted that his comment was inappropriate.