Mbappé Apologizes After 'Mao Zedong' Controversy... Three Chinese Companies End Partnership

French star Kylian Mbappé, striker for Spanish club Real Madrid, issued an apology on Tuesday for remarks that sparked widespread outrage in China, after he referred to the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a “dictator,” prompting three Chinese companies to terminate their commercial partnerships with him.

According to the Associated Press, Mbappé acknowledged in a statement that his comment was ill-advised, expressing his understanding that it had hurt the feelings of many people in China and among Chinese communities worldwide.

The crisis began after a video circulated showing Mbappé reacting to a satirical image that made him laugh, in which his face was superimposed onto a picture of a person he described as a “Chinese dictator,” a reference to Mao Zedong, founder of the People’s Republic of China, who died in 1976.

Companies Dongpeng Beverages, Mengniu Dairy, and Milkground Cheese announced they were ending their agreements with the French star, emphasizing their rejection of any statements or actions that offend Chinese national sentiments.

For his part, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun stated that words and deeds that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people would be met with rejection from all sectors of society.

The French news agency AFP had clarified that it was unable to independently verify the authenticity of the circulating video.