{"id":1346,"section":"sports","section_label":"Sports","url":"https://www.brokenews.co/sports/1346","headline":"Mbappé apologizes after joke about Mao costs him Chinese sponsors","dek":"Dongpeng, Mengniu and Milkground all cut sponsorship ties with the Real Madrid forward after he called Mao Zedong a \"dictator\" in a resurfaced clip.","body":"Kylian Mbappé has apologized for comments that resurfaced online in which he referred to former Chinese leader Mao Zedong as a \"dictator.\" The remark came from an appearance on the French show \"The Bridge,\" where Mbappé was asked to name his favorite meme of himself and pointed to a clip superimposing his face onto Mao's. \"A video someone made of a guy … I think he was a Chinese dictator,\" he said.\n\nThe fallout was swift. Chinese beverage company Dongpeng, dairy company Mengniu, and cheese company Milkground all terminated their sponsorship agreements with the Real Madrid star on Tuesday. Dongpeng said it maintains a zero-tolerance policy toward behavior that \"offends national sentiments,\" while Mengniu said it \"firmly opposes any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.\"\n\nMbappé's face has been a familiar sight in Chinese advertising, making the sudden exodus of sponsors notable for a player whose commercial reach extends well beyond the pitch. He has apologized for the comment, though it remains to be seen whether that will repair any of the severed partnerships.","published_at":"2026-10-27T16:07:59.870391+00:00","source_count":4,"written_from":[{"outlet":"Front Office Sports","publisher":"Front Office Sports","title":"Mbappé Apologizes For Mao ‘Dictator’ Joke As Chinese Brands Flee","url":"https://frontofficesports.com/article/mbappe-china-mao-dictator-joke/"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappé Apologizes For Mao ‘Dictator’ Joke As Chinese Brands Flee","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbapp-apologizes-mao-dictator-joke-143034605.html"},{"outlet":"ESPN","publisher":"ESPN","title":"Chinese brands drop Mbappé after comment about  'Chinese dictator' meme","url":"https://www.espn.com/soccer/story/_/id/50295111/real-madrid-kylian-mbappe-chinese-brands-dictator-comment"},{"outlet":"The Athletic","publisher":"The Athletic","title":"Two Chinese brands terminate partnership with Kylian Mbappe after 'dictator' comments","url":"https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7728803/2026/10/27/kylian-mbappe-china-dictator-meme/"}],"more_coverage":[{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands for 'offending national sentiments'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbappe-dropped-chinese-brands-offending-034456052.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappe dropped by Chinese brands for 'offending national sentiments'","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbappe-dropped-chinese-brands-offending-040709708.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Major Chinese brands drop Mbappé as backlash grows over Mao joke","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/major-chinese-brands-drop-mbapp-071513629.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Several Chinese brands cut ties with Mbappé after dictator meme comments","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/several-chinese-brands-cut-ties-082954114.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Chinese brands drop Mbappé as backlash hits LaLiga coverage in China","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/chinese-brands-drop-mbapp-backlash-083900053.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappe sparks international incident as China government reacts to Real Madrid star's 'dictator' joke","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbappe-sparks-international-incident-092300298.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé loses major China sponsorship deals following Mao Zedong meme controversy","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbapp-loses-major-china-102400883.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé Loses Chinese Sponsors And LaLiga Loses TV Coverage After Meme Remark","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbapp-loses-chinese-sponsors-103740087.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Two Chinese brands terminate Kylian Mbappe partnerships over dictator meme comments","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/two-chinese-brands-terminate-kylian-114500439.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé apologizes to Chinese fans over Mao Zedong comment","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbapp-apologizes-chinese-fans-124641510.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé ‘sincerely sorry’ for ‘ill-judged’ Mao Zedong comment","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbapp-sincerely-sorry-ill-124400598.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappé loses brand deals in China over alleged Mao meme remarks","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbapp-loses-brand-deals-china-124834317.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé apologizes for 'dictator' comment after being dropped from multiple partnerships in China","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/soccer/article/kylian-mbappe-apologizes-for-dictator-comment-after-being-dropped-from-multiple-partnerships-in-china-125630562.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappé loses brand deals in China over Mao meme remarks","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbapp-loses-brand-deals-china-130331538.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Kylian Mbappé dropped by Chinese brands after ‘Chinese dictator’ meme comment","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/kylian-mbapp-dropped-chinese-brands-132217823.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Football: Mbappé apologises for 'ill-judged' joke about China's Mao Zedong that led several brands to drop him","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/football-mbapp-apologises-ill-judged-151514252.html"},{"outlet":"Yahoo Sports","publisher":"Yahoo Sports","title":"Mbappé loses brand deals in China over Mao meme remarks","url":"https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/mbapp-loses-brand-deals-china-170333250.html"}],"image":{"url":"https://frontofficesports.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/10/2026-09-20T140313Z_1739254798_UP1EM9K131CCY_RTRMADP_3_SOCCER-SPAIN-ATM-RMA-scaled.jpg?quality=80&w=1024","credit":"Front Office Sports","width":1024},"embed":null,"license":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/","attribution":"Analysis data is licensed CC BY 4.0. Credit brokenews and link to the story page you took it from. Source headlines, story titles taken from a source headline, and quoted passages remain the property of their publishers and are quoted for comparison, not licensed onward.","terms":"https://www.brokenews.co/about#reuse"}