French football star Kylian Mbappe has lost partnerships with at least three Chinese companies after comments apparently referring to Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China, as a dictator.
Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese producer Milkground announced on Tuesday in similarly worded statements that they were ending their agreements with Mbappe, saying they opposed “any words and actions that hurt national sentiment”.
The companies did not specify what prompted their decisions, but their statements followed the circulation on X of a clip that appeared to show Mbappe being interviewed ahead of an appearance on French online talk show “The Bridge”.
In the video, Mbappe is asked about his favourite meme of himself. He replies that it was “a video someone made of a guy ... I think he was a Chinese dictator”, before the clip shows an altered image depicting his face on the body of Mao Zedong, dressed in a blue suit.
The Associated Press said it was immediately unable to reach Mbappe’s representatives for comment.
Social media platform RedNote also joined the criticism, saying in a separate statement that its content partnership with Mbappe had ended on December 31, 2024, and that it would “remove related promotional materials”.
The platform likewise expressed opposition to “any conduct that hurts national sentiment”.
Mbappe has featured in advertising campaigns in China for products ranging from electrolyte drinks to milk and cheese.
On Chinese social media, several users had already posted comments criticising Mbappe.
The hashtags “Dongpeng ends partnership with Mbappe” and “Several brands end partnerships with Mbappe” topped Weibo’s trending list.
“Football fans boycott Mbappe” was also trending, with some users expressing anger at his remarks or telling him not to come to China.
