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 dictator.
00:41The meme is part of a running joke on social media in which Mbappe is called
00:46a dictator over 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
01:06political and national issue in China.
