Mbappé loses two Chinese sponsorships after Mao Zedong joke video surfaces

Mbappé loses two Chinese sponsorships after Mao Zedong joke video surfaces

French football star Kylian Mbappé, a Real Madrid and France forward, was dropped by two major Chinese brands on Tuesday after a video circulated online in which he appeared to joke about former leader Mao Zedong.

The video showed Mbappé saying the funniest internet meme he had seen was his face photoshopped onto that of “some guy – I think he's a Chinese dictator.”

Energy drink giant Dongpeng issued a statement saying, “Our company firmly opposes and has a zero‑tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments,” and that “with immediate effect we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé.”

Dairy producer Mengniu added, “Mengniu firmly opposes and has a zero‑tolerance policy towards any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people,” and also announced “with immediate effect our company is terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé.”