Kylian Mbappé has apologised for comments about former Chinese leader Mao Zedong after facing strong criticism in China and losing commercial deals with three Chinese companies.
The Real Madrid and France forward issued an apology on Tuesday, admitting that his remarks were poorly judged and had upset people in China and Chinese communities around the world.
“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappé said in a statement.
“I apologise to everyone my words have upset,” he added. “This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”
The controversy followed an appearance on the French online talk show The Bridge, where Mbappé discussed his favourite meme of himself. He described the person featured in a video as someone he believed was a Chinese dictator before an edited image showed his face on Mao’s body.
The clip went viral, prompting criticism and commercial consequences for the football star. Chinese beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese producer Milkground announced that they were ending their commercial agreements with him.
The companies said they opposed “any words and actions that hurt national sentiment.”
Mao led the Chinese Communist Party during its rise to power and founded the People’s Republic of China in 1949. While many people continue to revere him, his rule remains controversial because of its authoritarian policies and campaigns, including the Great Leap Forward. The campaign contributed to a devastating famine that killed an estimated 30 million people.
China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Guo Jiakun, said comments and actions that hurt the feelings of Chinese people would naturally face opposition across society.
Social media platform RedNote also criticised the remarks and said its content partnership with Mbappé had ended on December 31, 2024. The platform said it would remove related promotional materials. Mbappé’s account was also barred from accepting new followers on Tuesday.
The apology comes as the football star faces the fallout from remarks that have affected his commercial relationships in one of the world’s major consumer markets.
