Kylian Mbappe says sorry for calling Mao Zedong a dictator on talk show
S“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappé Kylian said in an official statement. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
S“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappé Kylian said in an official statement. | Photo Credit: REUTERS
Kylian Mbappé apologised for comments in which he apparently referred to Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China, as a dictator, after facing backlash and losing brand deals with three different Chinese companies.
“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 on Tuesday.
“I apologise to everyone my words have upset,” he said. “This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”
The comments come after his earlier comments on the French online talk show “The Bridge”, where he referred to Mao as a ‘dictator’. In the video, Mbappé is asked about his favorite meme of himself, and the soccer star replies that it was “a video someone made of a guy ... I think he was a Chinese dictator” before the video shows an altered image depicting Mbappé’s face on the blue-suited body of Mao.
After the video went viral, a number of Chinese brands ended commercial agreements with the France and Real Madrid star. Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground said that they were ending agreements saying they oppose “any words and actions that hurt national sentiment.”
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Mao was a revolutionary who led the Communist Party during its crucial early days, winning a civil war against the ruling Nationalist Party in China, and then founding the modern day People’s Republic of China.
Mao is revered by many even today. However, he leaves behind a complex legacy of authoritarian rule, having led campaigns like the Great Leap Forward, an industrialization project which led to a famine that killed an estimated 30 million people.
China’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesperson Guo Jiakun said in response to a question about the controversy that “words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society.”
Social media platform RedNote joined the criticism, saying in a separate statement that the company had a content partnership with Mbappé that ended on December 31, 2024, and that it would “remove related promotional materials.” It expressed opposition to “any conduct that hurts national sentiment.”
Mbappé’s account on RedNote was banned from accepting new followers Tuesday.
Published on Oct 27, 2026
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