In April 2026, during an interview on the French web show The Bridge, Mbappé said that the funniest meme of himself he had ever seen was one in which someone had swapped his face onto "a Chinese dictator"; the clip used in the show was a composite image of him and Mao Zedong. Such "Dictator Mbappé" memes have been circulating among European football fans since 2024. After the clip spread online on October 26, CCTV suspended broadcasts of La Liga, Hupu and Dongqiudi erased his Ballon d'Or ranking, Weibo and Xiaohongshu banned him from posting, brands such as Dongpeng and Mengniu terminated their contracts, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs also issued a statement — yet almost no domestic media dared to repeat what he had actually said. On October 27, Mbappé issued an apology in three languages. This special section records every step of the incident in chronological order.
After Mbappé, La Liga and La Liga President Javier each apologized over the “Chinese dictator” incident, the X platform added the note “Mao Zedong was indeed a dictator” beneath each apology post.
On October 28, as the controversy surrounding Mbappe's remarks continues to escalate, major Chinese e-commerce platforms have begun removing Mbappe-related products.
After the controversy over Mbappé's remarks, a netizen posted on WeChat Moments a photo of a "Hydrate" drink printed with Mbappé's face along with a doctored image captioned "Party enemy Mbappé," with the caption "has become a swan song." After the post went up, friends could not see it; 22 minutes later the user reposted a screenshot, and it was blocked again more than two hours later.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry stated at a press conference that the relevant remarks hurt the feelings of the Chinese people and would naturally be jointly boycotted by all sectors of Chinese society.
On the morning of the 27th, Dongpeng Beverage announced the full termination of its contract with Mbappé, followed by Mengniu Dairy, Milkground, and other Chinese enterprises as well as Xiaohongshu (RedNote), which also moved to cut ties.
On the evening of the 27th, Mbappé issued an apology to the public in French, English, and Simplified Chinese, stating that he respects the Chinese people and their history.
Chengdu Yuefa Business Information Consulting Co., Ltd. issued a statement supporting Mbappé and decided to purchase ten boxes of the endorsed products to give away free to the public; the company's legal representative posted the business license.
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.
After Mbappé's remarks prompted netizens to urge brands to state their position and terminate contracts, as of 1 a.m. on October 27, Mengniu and Dongpeng had deleted all Weibo posts related to Mbappé.
On October 27, Mbappé's remarks calling Mao Zedong "China's dictator" sparked controversy. Milkground took down his endorsement promotional content, and Swiss sportswear brand On's official Weibo account in China also deleted related content, but On's overseas official website still retains the collaboration feature.
On the morning of October 27, Eastroc Beverage Group and its brand 'Bushuila' issued identical statements on their official Weibo accounts, stating that they 'firmly oppose and have zero tolerance for actions that hurt national sentiment,' and have terminated all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé effective immediately. Eastroc had only just announced Mbappé as the brand ambassador for 'Bushuila' in April; Eastroc's A-shares fell by more than 4% during the day.
On October 27, Mengniu Dairy and its subsidiary Milkground were reported to have issued a statement on their official Weibo accounts saying they "resolutely oppose and have zero tolerance for any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people," terminating all cooperation with Mbappé effective immediately. The two companies had already cleared out promotional materials related to Mbappé on the night of the 26th.
On the afternoon of October 27, Mbappé's Weibo and Xiaohongshu accounts were banned, and Xiaohongshu also prevented other users from following his account; the Xiaohongshu account showed "violating community rules" and could not post.
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."
On October 27, the Party media Guangming Daily posted a video on Douyin criticizing Mbappé, saying “insulting China’s late great leader will not be tolerated,” with the caption “Eating China’s food, smashing China’s pot? Mbappé, unworthy!” In the comments section, some netizens threatened to “offer 1 million to buy his legs” and to “issue a global wanted notice right away.”