On November 1, Infobae published an exclusive interview with Younes Khelifi, the creator of the 'Mbappe-Mao' meme. He stated that he made the video in 2023 solely to mock Mbappe's influence at Paris Saint-Germain and had no political intentions. After Mbappe responded, he received many friendly messages from Chinese netizens, as well as a small number of threats, but he stated that he does not regret it.