11.04
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·France
On November 4, Elisabeth Lévy, founder and editor-in-chief of the French magazine 'Causeur', published an editorial titled 'Yellow Card', criticizing Real Madrid for apologizing after Kylian Mbappé called Mao Zedong a 'Chinese dictator'. She stated that the millions of victims of the Mao era have not received the same respect, and described the commercial pressure from the Chinese side as 'financial extortion'.
11.03
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On the evening of November 3, Bruno Retailleau, chairman of the French Republican Party and presidential candidate, was asked on a BFMTV program whether Mao Zedong was a dictator. He replied "of course" twice, stated that Mao caused the deaths of tens of millions, and equated communism with Nazism as two forms of totalitarianism.
11.03
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·France
On November 3, French Sud Radio comedian Régis Mailhot teased Kylian Mbappé for committing an unforgivable mistake—telling the truth by bluntly calling Mao Zedong a dictator and shouting 'Free Tibet,' while simulating an apology to Beijing after the radio station was supposedly acquired by China.
11.01
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·China
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.
10.30
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On October 30, French MP and presidential candidate François Ruffin, in an interview with BFMTV/RMC, criticized the influence of Chinese capitalism and nationalism while discussing the Mbappé controversy. He explicitly stated that Mao Zedong was a dictator who established authoritarian rule, and the deaths of millions of Chinese people caused by his rule cannot be excused.
10.29
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 2
·France
French football star Kylian Mbappé called Mao Zedong a dictator, stating that he caused tens of millions of deaths and that his regime was totalitarian in nature. French public opinion views this as a statement of fact rather than a personal opinion.
[Follow-up · October 28, 2026] On the evening of October 28, Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of the French Green Party, posted on X, stating that Mbappé's characterization of Mao Zedong as a dictator is historically grounded, and criticized France's repeated submission to China's economic pressure as a sign of weakness.
10.29
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On October 29, Philippe Diallo, President of the French Football Federation, addressed the controversy surrounding Kylian Mbappe regarding China, stating that he does not believe Mbappe intended to damage the image of Chinese leaders or offend the Chinese people. He noted that Mbappe has apologized and the controversy should end here.
10.29
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·France
As the controversy over Kylian Mbappé's remarks intensifies in China, French netizens have shared a TV interview from April 2023 featuring Lu Shaye, the Chinese Ambassador to France, in which he denied the historical disasters caused by Mao Zedong's rule and deflected the topic to Western human rights issues.
10.28
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·France
The creator of the Mbappé-Mao Zedong meme was interviewed by the French magazine 'So Foot', lamenting that they originally just wanted to make a meme to amuse friends, never expecting it to develop to this point.
10.28
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On the evening of October 28, Marine Tondelier, National Secretary of the French Green Party, posted on X, stating that Mbappé's characterization of Mao Zedong as a dictator has historical basis, and criticized France's repeated submission to China's economic pressure as a sign of weakness.
10.28
·Reported
·Importance II
·Sources 1
·France
On October 28, the creator of the Mbappe-Mao Zedong meme told French magazine 'So Foot' that he wants to visit China, but is seriously considering contacting the French Embassy in China first to confirm whether the video controversy might cause him problems. He also stated that his posts on X praising Mao in Chinese were meant to be semi-joking.
10.27
·Reported
·Importance IV
·Sources 6
·France
On October 27, Mbappé posted a statement in French, Chinese and English on his personal account, saying his comments were "inappropriate," that he now understood they had hurt many people in China, apologizing to everyone hurt by his remarks, and expressing "deep respect" for the Chinese people and Chinese history. The statement garnered over 10 million views within about two hours of being posted on X, and many Chinese netizens said in the comments that he had no need to apologize.
10.27
·Official claim
·Importance III
·Sources 3
·China
At around 16:00 on October 27, the Global Times published a quick commentary titled "Mbappé Is Done For, and He Deserves It," saying it believes the list of terminated contracts will gradually grow longer until all of Mbappé's cooperation related to China is completely zeroed out, and warning that anyone who "disrespects China" should not expect to earn a single cent from the Chinese market. The full text did not restate Mbappé's specific remarks, nor did it contain the words "Mao Zedong" or "dictator."
10.27
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On October 27, France's TF1 reported on the backlash in China against Mbappé after he called Mao Zedong a dictator, which forced him to apologize. The presenter said this is a fact accepted by historians, citing historians' estimates that Mao Zedong's repression caused at least 40 million deaths.
10.27
·Reported
·Importance III
·Sources 1
·France
On the evening of October 27, the French talk show The Bridge issued a bilingual French-English statement on Instagram, saying that the relevant video was behind-the-scenes footage recorded in April this year and published on October 26, and apologizing to Mbappé, his partners, and institutions that could affect relations with China over the controversy sparked by Mbappé's remarks about memes.