First Messi, Now Mbappé: One Remark Is Enough to Shatter 1 Billion Fragile Chinese Egos

Soccer superstar Kylian Mbappé sparked a global controversy on October 26 after a six-month-old interview clip resurfaced online. During the interview, the host asked Mbappé which of the many memes featuring him online made him laugh the most. Mbappé replied, There are just too many. The one that makes me laugh the most is a video of someone who I think was a Chinese dictator with my face edited onto his. When I play PlayStation Online with my friends, we often use that meme in the chat. Mbappé did not name the Chinese dictator in his answer, but the show's editors displayed a composite image of Mbappé's face superimposed on a portrait of the late Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong. The clip came from Mbappé's appearance on the French online talk show The Bridge in early April this year. It has now resurfaced and through unclear channels reached Chinese social media, where it quickly spread. Chinese nationalist users flooded social media with attacks on Mbappe on October 27, yet the authorities had already censored the interview clip, leaving many people in China unaware of what he had actually said. They had only heard Chinese state media or other users accuse him of openly insulting a great leader, insulting China, and hurting the feelings of the Chinese people. One of the first to react was a popular Chinese soccer platform, Dongqiu Di. Late on October 26, it issued a statement saying, because his remarks involved harm to China and the Chinese people, we cannot translate them. In any case, his remarks have already hurt the feelings of Chinese soccer fans and the Chinese people. Such remarks are unacceptable to us. The platform then replaced entries for Mbappe in its statistical rankings with no such person found. The popular Chinese sports community Hupu also removed Mbappe's name from his 2026 Ballon d'Or rankings, where he had been near the top. The list jumped directly from first place to third. A wave of commercial sponsors then moved quickly to cut ties with him. On the morning of October 27, Dongpen Beverage Group, which had signed Mbappe to a major product endorsement deal issued an emergency statement announcing the immediate end of all commercial cooperation with him. The company said it firmly opposes and has zero tolerance for actions that hurt national feelings. Other major consumer brands soon followed suit, including Menil Dairy and its subsidiary Milk Ground. They announced within hours that they were ending their contracts with Mbappe, then removed all billboards and products bearing his image overnight. But some social media users pointed out that Mbappé has also established commercial partnerships with numerous brands operating in China, including Loewe Technology, Sorare, Accor, Fairmont Hotel and Resorts, On, Oakley, Dior, Hublot, and Rimowa. and former sponsor Nike they question whether nationalist boycotts would expand further causing far more damage to the boycotters themselves and potentially leaving China increasingly isolated one video showed a man using a helmet to repeatedly strike a large ad on the back of a truck it featured mbappe promoting get hydrated a chinese sports drink a drink intended simply to quench thirst had become a test of people's political loyalties online. What people drank, what they refused to drink, and whether they shared, post, or supported a boycott were all being treated as signs of loyalty. A customer tried to buy get hydrated drinks bearing Mbappe's image at a Lawson convenience store in Hebei on October 27th, but staff received an urgent notice during the purchase, took the drinks back, and refused to sell them. Why can't you sell them anymore? They infringed on his image rights. You were still selling them when I took them off the shelf. The video promoted widespread discussion online. Comments included, hurry up and buy a couple. They're discontinued. Get some for your collection before they're gone. And I got three bottles for one yuan. The gaming industry was also affected. The eFootball series operated in China by NetEase and Tencent's FC Mobile both announced that they would stop all promotions featuring Mbappe inside and outside their games and began removing related player content in future updates. Funnily enough, soccer matches shown on Chinese online platforms even had Mbappé's face blurred out. Some users mocked the move, describing it as another example of the CCP's excessive response. Mbappé's face was also covered up on an ad at Shanghai's Xujiahui subway station. By the afternoon of October 27, Mbappé's accounts on both Weibo and Xiaohongshu had been muted. Xiaohongshu also stopped other users from following his accounts. On Bilibili, a user watching a Ballon d'Or ceremony video received a one-year account ban after posting the on-screen comment, I support Mbappe even more now. At the national broadcasting level, China Media Group, which operates CCTV, suspended plans on October 26 to broadcast La Liga and any matches involving Mbappe. It also removed all previous reports about him from CCTV News and CCTV.com. Sources say a senior China media group official even wrote directly to Javier Tebas, president of Spain's La Liga. The letter demanded that Real Madrid and Mbappe immediately issue sincere public apologies and submit written apologies to the broadcaster, stating, apologize first or there is nothing to discuss. With annual broadcasting rights worth hundreds of millions of euros at stake, Tebas wrote to China Media Group on the afternoon of October 27, expressing regret over the players' remarks and seeking understanding. The controversy involving business and sports soon escalated into an official diplomatic exchange. At the Foreign Ministry's regular press briefing on October 27, spokesperson Guo Jiakun responded to a question from an AFP reporter. We have noted the relevant reports. Words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally face a collective boycott from all sectors of Chinese society. State media then launched a coordinated response. Huanqiu.com, a website affiliated with the Global Times, had a female presenter read a Global Times editorial in a harsh tone. Its title was, Mbappé has fallen and he deserved it. Mbappé has fallen and he deserved it. The French player has deeply offended China. On the 27th, several Chinese companies announced they were terminating their contracts with him while platforms removed related content. Broadcast of matches involving Mbappé and advertisement featuring him have all been suspended. We believe this list will continue to grow until all of Mbappé's cooperation involving China has been eliminated. Anyone who disrespects the country and hurts the feelings of the Chinese people should not expect to earn a single cent from the Chinese market. This message is strong and unequivocal. She also warned foreign public figures against enjoying the enormous benefits of the Chinese market while challenging China's political red lines. The response brought the pressure of the state apparatus down on a single soccer player. Even more ridiculous is that China News Service published an article titled Mbappe Pa, mocking his name with a sound of spitting in disgust. Some users criticized the outlet, a national-level media organization resorting to insults. A news organization leads the verbal attacks while talking about national dignity. What a way to represent itself. If you think he is wrong, refute him with facts. Public insults only shows that you have no evidence and cannot answer back. Yet throughout the day, state media, commercial organizations and sports forums repeatedly attacked Mbappé for making seriously inappropriate remarks concerning China. While none reproduced his full words or identified the person he had referred to, many nationalist users joining the attacks and demanding a ban did not even know what they were condemning. One user said Mbappé's controversy had turned public discussion into a guessing game. under strict internet censorship those who knew what had happened spoke in coded hints while those who did not know expressed anger without understanding its cause on Weibo and other platforms curious users asked what exactly did Mbappé say why is everyone criticizing him instead of factual answers they encountered hostile exchanges some users who knew the context joked that he had been banned for telling people not to buy Chinese A-shares. Others shouted, don't ask why, just join the country in condemning him. When curious users turned to major Chinese AI models for answers, several mainstream products, including Doubao and DeepSeek, triggered their safety restrictions when asked what inappropriate remarks did Mbappé make. They refused to answer, crashed or displayed network errors. Even with a CCP censorship system working at full capacity, some AI responses slipped through. Under a Weibo discussion post, the platform's official automated reply bot Comment Robert, which has more than 2 million followers, generated a voice message saying he just told the truth. Some people simply don't like hearing it. Users responded with comments such as the AI has gone rogue and AI isn't beyond the reach of the law. Users outside China described the situation as the Mbappe apology paradox. The CCP wanted people in China to know that Mbappe had apologized but could not let them know what he was apologizing for. Many were first told that he had insulted China and then that he had apologized without even learning what he had said. The result was widespread confusion and an intense public reaction. Facing a major threat to his commercial interests, Mbappé ultimately chose to compromise through a conventional public relations response. Mbappé issued a public apology through his own channels and Real Madrid on October 27. his statement read, during a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself. My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world. I apologize to everyone. My words have upset. That was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I'm sincerely sorry. Commenting on the apology, some users outside China said people raised in the free world may not realize that an unintended remark can touch a political nerve in China. They described Mbappé as an unusually unwitting dissident. After receiving the apology, China Media Group maintained its demands. A representative said publicly, we had noted the relevant information, but we will judge actions as well as words. The broadcaster said it hoped La Liga, Real Madrid and Mbappé would learn from the incident, apologize sincerely and thoroughly correct their mistakes. The language resembled demands for self-criticism within the Chinese political system and reflected its emphasis on submission to authority. Under this approach, an individual's sincerity matters less than securing compliance, while the organizations behind that person are also held responsible. The escalating demand surprised many observers outside China and prompted a wider international backlash. While Mbappé's apology fueled nationalist reactions within China, political figures, sports figures and human rights organizations in the free world sharply criticized the controversy. The U.S. House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party issued a strongly worded statement on social media saying that Mbappe should not have apologized for his remarks. The statement said, Mao was a dictator and by orders of magnitude he did more harm to the Chinese people than a comment from a soccer player ever could. Mao was a leader of the CCP for decades, and his dictatorship and disastrous policies killed tens of millions of Chinese people in the Cultural Revolution, the Great Famine, and other atrocities. For decades, the CCP has denied the Chinese people basic human rights, including freedom of expression and freedom of religion. These are rights enjoyed by Mbappe and millions of people around the world, and Mbappe should exercise his opportunity to tell the horrific truth about Mao's dictatorship. The real disgrace in this news story is the companies rushing to apologize so they can continue to do business in China. The CCP is the largest oppressor of the Chinese people and their human rights and those businesses that work with the CCP help normalize its crushing brutality. In an interview with Voice of America, former NBA star Enes Kanter freedoms also expressed deep regret and concern over Mbappé's compromise. Kantar, who was himself banned and paid a heavy professional price after publicly criticizing human rights abuses, said, First of all, I had tremendous respect for Kylian Mbappé. I think he's one of the greatest soccer players in the world. But I think what concerns me about this situation is the message it sends to athletes everywhere. This is not just about Mbappé or one comment. It's about the enormous influence that money and powerful governments can have over professional sports. You know, when athletes feel they have to choose between their principles and their careers, we have a serious problem. So that's why I think it's a shame that he came out and apologized because Mao Zedong is a dictator. Meanwhile, legendary Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho publicly defended his player in an interview with European media. Mourinho said what is happening now is a disgrace I will always support my players Killian was asked a question and he answered politely they have turned a simple joke into all this it is especially embarrassing when people who routinely mock others suddenly act hurt themselves those most willing to joke about these things are now acting the most aggrieved I am deeply disappointed by the reaction against him we need fairness and Kylian Mbappé deserves that fairness. In a special report, the major French news channel BFMTV said, this kind of humorous reference is a normal and healthy part of Western culture, while remarks touching on political and historical figures are treated as highly sensitive in today's China. The broad international response showed that the attempt to extend China's controls abroad had promoted greater scrutiny of how the CCP uses economic interest to pressure free expression worldwide the memes known as Mbappe Zedong had already been popular among European soccer fans for years the french newspaper 20 minutes reported on the phenomenon on august 18th 2023 fans were mocking mbappe's extensive influence over players recruitment and the locker room during his time at paris saint germain using imagery from cultural revolution propaganda posters, portraits framed by a red sun, and the red little book they jokingly portrayed him as a dictator with absolute power over the team. It was a satirical remix targeting a star player's privileges, a familiar practice in European, American, and global popular culture. A reporter had previously asked Mbappé, there are memes on social media portraying you as a dictator, as though you are authoritarian and have the final say on everything. What do you think of them? Do you find them funny or are they actually quite annoying? Some of them are quite funny because you can tell that for some people it is just a good natured joke, but some are less funny because we all know how much destruction people like that caused throughout history. Being compared to people who killed others and caused suffering for so many people, I don't think I have ever done anything like that in my life, so I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I know people are just making a lighthearted joke and it isn't that serious. On the other hand, it also shows that people sometimes lack a certain awareness, a political and humanitarian awareness. Mao Zedong's description as a dictator is widely accepted among historians. Some people in China privately call him a monster, while online users also refer to him as Mao the Preserved Meat, a mocking reference to his embalmed body. Even in the CCP's own historical accounts, Mao never denied his concentration of power. at the second session of the party's eighth national congress in 1958. He even described himself as Qin Shi Huang plus Marx, combining China's first emperor with the founder of Marxism under modern political definitions, a ruler who operates beyond legal constraints, promotes a personality cult, and concentrates power in his own hands as a dictator. The Great Leap Forward triggered a nationwide famine in which tens of millions of innocent farmers starved to death. Mao later launched the Cultural Revolution, which destroyed traditional culture and violated basic human values. Millions of intellectuals, officials, and ordinary people died, while more than 100 million suffered severe political persecution. Even the historical resolution adopted at the Sixth Plenary Session of the CCP's 11th Central Committee described this period as internal turmoil that brought grave disaster to the party, the country, and the people. Academic and historical studies commonly estimate that political campaigns, repression, the Great Famine, and the Cultural Revolution during Mao's rule from 1949 to 1976 caused roughly 40 million to more than 50 million unnatural deaths in China. Some scholars and research institutions outside China put the figure as high as 80 million. Many people in China understand this history and use dark humor in private to cope with its lasting trauma. Yet when a foreign soccer star thousands of miles away referred to that historical reality using a straightforward term, the political system reacted sharply. As current affairs commentator Li Chunpen put it, the intense reaction reflects China's political regression. As the current leadership restores the concentration of personal power associated with the Mao era. Criticizing Mao therefore challenges the legitimacy of today's authoritarian rule. Labeling historical truth an insult to China uses the country and its people to shield the crimes of a dictator.