Mbappé Apologizes to China After Mao Joke Costs Him Sponsors and State TV Airtime

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What Happened

On Tuesday, Real Madrid forward and France captain Kylian Mbappé issued a public apology to China. A clip from a French podcast had shown him laughing about a meme that put his face on the portrait of "some guy" he believed to be a Chinese dictator. The clip has since been taken down.

Mbappé said he had been reacting to an image of himself. He called his comment "ill-judged" and said he understood it had hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities abroad. His statement did not mention Mao by name.

Mao Zedong founded the People's Republic of China and ruled it from 1949 until his death in 1976. Making fun of him is still treated as a social taboo in China.

The Fallout in China

The reaction was swift. Dairy giants Mengniu and Shanghai Milkground, along with beverage maker Eastroc (known in China as Dongpeng), announced they were ending all cooperation with the player. They said they had "zero tolerance" for anything that hurts the feelings of the Chinese people.

State-linked outlet The Paper reported that CCTV, China's state broadcaster, had stopped airing matches involving LaLiga and Mbappé and removed his advertisements. Chinese football platform Dongqiudi also reportedly deleted his name from its Ballon d'Or ranking.

Chinese state media made their position clear. The Global Times said respect is "not optional" for anyone who profits from China. CCTV was somewhat more measured, saying it would watch Mbappé's future actions "even more" than his words.

China's Foreign Ministry added that statements hurting the feelings of the Chinese people would meet "joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society."

Brands and League Scramble

Mbappé's Swiss sportswear sponsor On Holding welcomed the apology and said it holds "deep respect" for China. Hotel group Accor did not respond to requests for comment. Lego declined to comment, and its Mbappé set was still listed on its Chinese website on Tuesday.

LaLiga president Javier Tebas also apologized on X. He said the league regrets the offense caused in China and is working with its Chinese partners. A relationship built over many years, he wrote, should not be undone by one episode.

Online, the anger continued. Several Mbappé-related topics were still trending on Weibo (China's version of Twitter), and some users called for him to be blacklisted.

Where the Meme Came From

The "dictator" joke did not start in China. During the 2026 World Cup, edited and AI-generated images spread online showing Mbappé in military uniforms, on a throne, or standing beside Joseph Stalin. The trend was fed by rumors that he wields outsized influence at Real Madrid and in the French national team.

Teammate Ousmane Dembélé even jokingly called him "Mobutu," after the former dictator of Zaire. In September, Mbappé told a French sports magazine that some of these memes were harmless fun. Others, he said, showed a "lack of political and human awareness," because real dictators had caused immense suffering.

Not the First Time

Western brands and athletes have run into Beijing's red lines before. In 2008, Citroën pulled newspaper ads that showed a distorted Mao portrait and apologized to China. In 2019, Arsenal's Mesut Özil criticized China's treatment of Uighur Muslims, and CCTV cancelled the broadcast of an Arsenal match.

Reuters notes that Dolce & Gabbana, Swatch and the NBA have also faced Chinese anger. Some recovered quickly, while others needed years. Sports marketing expert Terrence Burns said Mbappé's team should have known the price of Chinese endorsements.

The History Behind the Taboo

The sensitivity around Mao is not only about reputation. Under his Great Leap Forward campaign (1958–1962), tens of millions of people died, mostly from starvation. Estimates vary: journalist Yang Jisheng put the toll at about 36 million, while Hong Kong historian Frank Dikötter, drawing on Chinese party archives, estimates at least 45 million, including 2 to 3 million who were beaten or killed.

Historians such as Dikötter note that the Communist Party has never fully acknowledged how much of the famine was caused by its own policies. For critics, this is why jokes and honest debate about Mao remain so tightly controlled.

Outlook

It is unclear whether Mbappé's apology will end the dispute. CCTV signaled that it wants more than words, and the broadcast halt affects LaLiga's large audience in China. Other sponsors, including Lego and Accor, may still have to decide whether to stay with him.

For athletes and brands, the lesson is that the Chinese market comes with rules that no contract spells out. The Mbappé episode shows how quickly a single remark can cost millions in business.

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Sources

1. Reuters – "Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands over alleged Mao meme comments" (Oct 27, 2026): https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/mbappe-dropped-by-chinese-brands-over-alleged-mao-meme-comments-2026-10-27/
2. Yahoo Sports (via EFE) – "Chinese TV stops showing La Liga over Mbappé meme": https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/chinese-tv-stops-showing-la-085200091.html
3. Yahoo Sports – "China La Liga Ban: Mbappé's Mao Meme Sparks Stunning Fallout": https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/china-la-liga-ban-mbapp-124033265.html
4. Türkiye Today – "Mbappe apologizes to China after backlash over Mao joke": https://www.turkiyetoday.com/sports/two-chinese-brands-drop-mbappe-over-mao-joke-3231102
5. Flashscore (SID) – "Mbappe findet Diktatorenvergleiche nicht lustig": https://www.flashscore.de/news/mbappe-findet-diktatorenvergleiche-nicht-lustig/bHRZPMB5/
6. NPR – "Citroen Apologizes for Mao Ads" (2008): https://www.npr.org/transcripts/18255080
7. Fortune – "First the NBA, Now Soccer: Arsenal Star's Uighur Comments Risk Another League's China Business" (2019): https://fortune.com/2019/12/16/mesut-ozil-arsenal-china-comment-epl-sports-business
8. South China Morning Post – "45 million died in Mao's Great Leap Forward, Hong Kong historian says in new book": https://scmp.com/article/723956/revisiting-calamitous-time
9. Radio Free Asia – "Mao's Great Famine Reexamined": https://www.rfa.org/english/commentaries/mao-famine-02242012193735.html

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