Brands move to cut ties
Several Chinese companies announced Tuesday that they were ending relationships with Kylian Mbappé, the French national team captain and Real Madrid forward, according to NBC News. Energy drink maker Dongpeng Beverage, dairy producer Inner Mongolia Mengniu Dairy and cheesemaker Milkground issued similarly worded statements early in the day.
The social media platform Xiaohongshu also distanced itself from the player, saying its contract with him had ended after he appeared in a 2024 ad for the platform that went viral. A note on his Xiaohongshu account, which had more than a million followers, said it had been suspended "for violating community guidelines."
None of the companies spelled out what Mbappé had done wrong, NBC News reported.
The clip behind the outrage
The statements followed a clip that spread widely on social media Monday, taken from an interview last spring with the French online talk show "The Bridge." Mbappé is often joked about online as a dictator because of his outsize presence on and off the field, and fans have made memes likening him to authoritarian historical figures, including Mao Zedong.
Asked to name his favorite meme, Mbappé said: "A video someone made of a guy… I think he was a Chinese dictator." The clip then showed his face superimposed on an image of Mao, whom he did not mention by name.
Mbappé had already criticized the memes. He told the French sports newspaper L'Équipe last month that while he knew they were meant to be humorous, they also showed "a lack of political and human awareness," according to NBC News.
Apologies and official reaction
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said at a regular briefing in Beijing that "words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with a collective boycott by all sectors of Chinese society."
The Global Times, a state-backed nationalist tabloid, said in a commentary that sporting events and advertisements involving Mbappé had been suspended from broadcasting. It said he had "paid the price, and deservedly so," and called his experience "a clear red line for all foreign public figures seeking to enter the Chinese market."
After reports that broadcasts of the Spanish league had been suspended in China, La Liga President Javier Tebas said on social media that the league "deeply regret[s]" the comments and that it was working with partners in China to "overcome the situation." Mbappé then posted his own apology, calling his comment "ill-judged" and saying he has "deep respect for the Chinese people and their history."
Mao's legacy and a pattern of backlash
Mao led China for more than a quarter-century until his death in 1976. His communist forces won the civil war in 1949, and his rule included the Great Leap Forward, which contributed to famines believed to have killed tens of millions of people, and the Cultural Revolution, a violent campaign that brought political and social chaos. The Communist Party acknowledges his role in those events but maintains that his achievements outweigh his mistakes, and his portrait appears on the 100-yuan bill.
Foreign athletes have faced similar fallout before. NBA games were largely suspended from Chinese broadcast for years beginning in 2019 after a Houston Rockets manager voiced support for Hong Kong protesters, and former NBA star Dwight Howard drew controversy in 2023 for calling Taiwan a country.
Mark Dreyer, author of a book on China's sports industry, told NBC News that such episodes force brands to protect commercial interests regardless of context or truth. He said stars and global celebrities will become "increasingly cautious about engaging with China." Many people online did not know what Mbappé had said, NBC News noted, given China's strict censorship.
