French football star loses deals with drinks-maker and dairy company.
Major brands in China have dropped Kylian Mbappé over a clip in which the French football megastar appeared to mock Mao Zedong.
In the video, widely shared on X, Mbappé is asked about the funniest internet meme he has seen featuring himself. He said it was of his face photoshopped onto that of “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator.”
In China, jokes about Mao Zedong, the country’s modern founding leader, are considered disrespectful.
Beverage-maker Dongpeng and dairy giant Mengniu announced Tuesday that they were ending agreements with the French player, although neither mentioned the video as the reason.
“Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” Dongpeng said in its statement.
“With immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé,” Mengniu said in a statement.
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV is suspending showing matches from Spanish top division La Liga, Chinese media outlet The Paper reported. Mbappé plays club football for Real Madrid.
Mbappé had not commented at the time of publication.
The controversy in China flared up a day after England’s Harry Kane beat Mbappé for the Ballon d’Or, the most prestigious individual award in football.