Kylian Mbappé is facing the biggest commercial crisis of his career in China. Three Chinese companies announced on Tuesday that they are ending their agreements with the Real Madrid forward, and the fallout has already reached LaLiga’s television coverage in one of football’s most valuable markets.
The trigger was a short clip linked to the French online show The Bridge. In it, Mbappé is asked which meme of himself he likes most, and he refers to a video of “a guy … I think he was a Chinese dictator”, before an edited picture of his face on the body of Mao Zedong appears, as reported by the Associated Press. The footage has not been independently verified and, according to the BBC, the show has since taken the original upload off its YouTube channel.
Dongpeng, Mengniu and Milkground walk away
Beverage firm Dongpeng, the dairy group Mengniu and Milkground, which makes cheese, all issued statements on Tuesday in very similar language. None of them spelled out exactly what Mbappé had said, but each referred to hurt national feelings. Dongpeng’s statement, carried by the state-run Global Times, ended with the line: “Effective immediately, we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé.”
Mengniu said it “firmly opposes and has zero tolerance for any words or actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people”. Social platform RedNote, whose own content partnership with the player ran out at the end of 2024, said it would take down related promotional material. The Global Times added that Dior, On and Hublot had removed Mbappé content from their Weibo pages, and that new users are currently unable to follow his accounts on RedNote or Weibo.
The row has even reached China’s foreign ministry. Asked about the controversy, a spokesperson said that “words and actions that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people will naturally be met with joint opposition from all sectors of Chinese society”, according to AP.
LaLiga coverage caught in the crossfire
The part of the story with the widest reach for Spanish football concerns broadcasting. According to the Global Times, Shanghai outlet The Paper reported that China Media Group, the parent organisation of state broadcaster CCTV, has suspended broadcasts of matches involving LaLiga and Mbappé. CCTV’s news apps have also removed content about the striker. Neither LaLiga nor Real Madrid had commented publicly at the time of writing, and there was no indication of how long any suspension might last.
Mbappé himself has not responded either, and The Bridge has stayed silent. The timing is awkward for player and club alike. Only on Sunday he was on the scoresheet as Madrid won the Clásico 2-1 at Camp Nou, a result that came with its own fitness worries over Fede Valverde.
A nickname that keeps coming back
The “dictator” tag has followed Mbappé for some time, partly because of the influence he is said to hold at club and international level, and he has spoken about it before. In a France Football interview in September he said the memes “sometimes reveals a lack of political and human awareness among people”, as quoted by the BBC.
On the pitch, the forward has been in fine form, with goals and assists in recent weeks including the 4-1 Champions League win over RB Leipzig. Off it, the pressure is now on him to address a backlash that is still growing, with Madrid due at Racing Santander on Sunday.