A statement after days of silence
Kylian Mbappé has broken his silence on the row that has cost him sponsors and screen time in China. The Real Madrid forward issued a written apology on Tuesday, calling his recent comments clumsy and saying they hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities worldwide.
“I am sincerely sorry,” he wrote, adding that he holds deep respect for the Chinese people and their history. The France captain said hurting anyone was never his intention.
The trouble started with a viral video. Asked about the memes made of him, Mbappé said the funniest one he had seen put his face on the picture of a man he took to be a Chinese dictator. The image appears to refer to a meme that pastes his face onto a portrait of Mao Zedong.
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Brands walk away, La Liga steps in
The commercial fallout came fast. Dongpeng, the drinks giant, Mengniu, the dairy group, and cheesemaker Milkground all announced in near-identical wording that they were ending their work with Mbappé with immediate effect. All three spoke of zero tolerance for words and acts that hurt national feelings.
State-linked outlet The Paper also reported that broadcaster CCTV has suspended coverage of every La Liga game featuring Mbappé and pulled adverts starring him. AFP could not confirm that independently, so treat it as unverified for now.
La Liga has since put its own name to the apology. The league said it deeply regrets the offence caused to Chinese supporters and apologised on behalf of all its clubs. Whether the statements calm the situation is the open question, because the sponsor exits are already done.
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