Real Madrid has officially apologized to China after Kylian Mbappe made remarks about former leader Mao Zedong that ignited a widespread social media firestorm. Offline too the Mbappe brand appeared to be under threat. On soft drinks and across social media, his face is plastered on billboards.
The club stated on Wednesday that it “wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any offence caused by the recent remarks of our player.
The 15-time European champions added that they support the public apology previously issued by the striker, in which he expressed regret and reaffirmed his respect for the Chinese population.
The controversy stems from a now-removed video interview with the French show “The Bridge,” where Mbappe described his amusement at an internet meme depicting his face edited onto the image of “some guy, think he’s a Chinese dictator,” referencing Mao. Mocking the former leader remains a strict taboo within China, and the comments have positioned the French forward as the latest international sports figure to face significant friction with Beijing. Mbappe, 27, continued to face a torrent of criticism from Chinese web users on Wednesday, some of it racist.
On Tuesday, Mbappe addressed the fallout, stating his comments were “ill-judged” and acknowledging that he now realizes the hurt caused to many people in China and among Chinese communities globally. By Wednesday, China’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun confirmed during a press briefing that Beijing is “taking seriously the apology the individual concerned has made.”
The diplomatic and commercial repercussions have been swift. La Liga, which also issued a statement regretting the offense caused, saw its television broadcasts suspended in China by CMG, the entity overseeing state broadcaster CCTV. Editorial commentary in the state-run Global Times suggested the club’s perceived tolerance for such behavior contributed to the offensive nature of the remarks.
Major commercial partners, including Dongpeng, Mengniu, and Milkground, have moved to terminate their partnerships with the player following the incident. Furthermore, the backlash has extended to digital platforms; accounts linked to Mbappe on the apps Weibo and Xiaohongshu have been frozen or banned for violating community standards. Reports indicate that global luxury brands, such as Dior and Hublot, have also scrubbed content related to the player from their Chinese social media channels. According to chinese beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year’s World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe,, On Tuesday it had scrapped its partnership with the player, as did dairy firms Mengniu and Milkground. With a notice stating that “the user has been banned from following due to violating laws or the Weibo Community Convention, the same was done on the Weibo app.
The impact is also visible in retail environments. At an Adidas flagship store in Beijing’s Sanlitun district, while other merchandise remains available, jerseys bearing the striker’s name have been removed from the shelves. This commercial freeze comes despite Mbappe’s former status as a celebrated figure in Chinese media, where he was previously lauded as a “footballing sensation” and affectionately nicknamed “Guigui”—a reference to the “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.”
This is not the first instance of international sports leagues facing political backlash in the region. In October 2019, China halted sponsorship deals and pulled NBA games from television for an entire year after then-Houston Rockets executive Daryl Morey expressed support for protests in Hong Kong. The official People’s Daily newspaper emphasized in a recent opinion piece that honoring the social customs and national sentiments of others is a “fundamental principle” for international conduct.
