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  • 17 hours ago
Football: Mbappé apologises for 'ill-judged' joke about China's Mao Zedong that led several brands to drop him

The decision came after the clip spread on social media across China, where jokes about Mao, who died in 1976, are seen as disrespectful.

READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2026/10/27/football-chinese-sponsors-drop-mbappe-over-mao-zedong-joke

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00:00Kylian Mbappe has lost several of his biggest sponsorship deals in China after a video circulated
00:07online in which he appears to joke about late Chinese leader Mao Zedong, something that
00:12led to a backlash that he has now apologized for.
00:16Mbappe said in a statement on Tuesday, quote, my comment was ill-judged and I now understand
00:22that it hurt many people in China.
00:24Mbappe reportedly made the comment on a French talk show where he was asked about the online
00:30memes about him being a dictator and the ones which amuse him the most.
00:35He then said the one that makes him laugh most is a video of a man he thinks is a
00:40Chinese
00:40dictator.
00:41The meme is part of a running joke on social media in which Mbappe is called a dictator
00:47over his huge influence on and off the pitch.
00:50Chinese energy drink maker Dong Peng and diary group Meng Niu both ended their partnerships
00:57with the Real Madrid forward with immediate effect.
01:00Jokes about Mao, who died in 1976, are seen as disrespectful and touch on a sensitive political
01:07and national issue in China.
01:22Also, who died in Asia.
01:23Oh, that's true.
01:24How could the guy get into this race?
01:24Yes.
01:36You know, so as like I said, I said, I saw, there are various people who don't bloody
01:40Actually, I would say, it's a special guest that came out, but that, and I
01:44think, I'm really, I'm really going to talk about it.
01:45It's a best thing.
01:45Thank you, thank you.
01:46I think that my friend and I want to learn a few years ago.
01:46have a new person.

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