French soccer star Kylian Mbappé has been cancelled by Chinese sponsors after the emergence of a video appearing to show him commenting about a meme depicting him as Mao Zedong.
In the clip, Mbappé says the meme that made him laugh the most featured his face on the body of "a guy — I think he's a Chinese dictator".
He added that he would "use it a lot with my friends online".
The clip includes a picture of Mbappé's head superimposed onto what appears to be the body of Mao Zedong, the founding leader of the People's Republic of China.
Kylian Mbappé says in the clip that he "uses it a lot with his friends online." (Supplied)
The ABC has been unable to verify the authenticity of the video and contacted the creator of the meme for comment.
The clip appears to be taken from a backstage interview conducted with French-language talk show The Bridge earlier this year.
It caused the furore around the same time as the prestigious Ballon d'Or international football awards on Monday.
The Chinese foreign ministry spokesperson Guo Jiakun said Mbappé's "remarks and deeds … hurt Chinese people's feelings".
"[It] will naturally meet joint rejection from people across Chinese society," he said.
Today the Dongpeng Beverage Group announced it had terminated its relationship with Mbappé.
The company had named him a brand ambassador for its electrolyte drink in April, ahead of the World Cup.
"Dongpeng Beverage firmly opposes and has zero tolerance for any conduct that hurts national feelings. Effective immediately, we are terminating all cooperation with Kylian Mbappé," the company said in a statement.
Chinese dairy companies Mengniu and Milkground also announced they had terminated their partnerships with the French athlete.
'What did he actually say?'
Dongpeng Beverage's announcement topped Weibo's trending chart this afternoon and nearly 400 million views were recorded on the related topic page.
But some Chinese social media users appeared unclear about what had prompted the backlash.
"What did he actually say? The trending top list is full of posts about the contract termination, but I can't find a single one explaining what he said," one user wrote.
Dongpeng Beverage says it has terminated its partnership with Kylian Mbappé. (Weibo: Yi Cheng Feng Xu)
Others referred to the controversy in more oblique terms.
"He's talking about the person on the 100-yuan note," another user wrote.
Chinese sports platform Dongqiudi said it would not translate Mbappé's remarks.
"Recently, Kylian Mbappé, the French player who plays for Real Madrid, made inappropriate remarks concerning China in an interview. As his remarks involve causing offence to China and the Chinese people, we will not translate them," it said in a statement.
In China, making jokes about the country’s leaders is generally considered taboo. (Reuters: Tingshu Wang)
The original interview footage cannot be found on Chinese social media platforms examined by the ABC.
The Bridge has since removed the clip from its social media accounts, according to Spanish news outlet elDiario, though it can be found on Reddit and in other media reports.
YouTube, Instagram and Reddit are blocked in mainland China and users generally cannot access content on those platforms without VPNs.
At least three Chinese companies have terminated their partnerships with Kylian Mbappé. (Weibo: Mengniu)
In a September interview with France Football Mbappé acknowledged the humour behind AI-generated memes depicting him as a dictator, but said he disliked being compared to such figures.
"There's a part of it that's funny, because you can tell that for some people it's good-natured," he told the magazine.
"There's also a part that's a little less funny, because we know the damage that people like that have caused throughout history.
"Being compared to people who murder others, or who have made millions and millions of people miserable … I don't think I've done that in my life. So there's a mixture of things."
The ABC has contacted Mbappé's representatives and Real Madrid for comment.