Football star Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 apologised for comments in which he apparently referred to Mao Zedong, the founding leader of Communist China, as a dictator, after facing backlash and losing brand deals with at least three different Chinese companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,\u201d Mbapp\u00e9 said in a statement.<\/p>\n
\u201cI apologise to everyone my words have upset,” he said. “This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”<\/p>\n
The incident is the latest in a string of cases where China leverages its economic clout to compel foreign companies and individuals to toe its political line. In 2019, Chinese state television ceased broadcasting NBA games after then-Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tweeted support for anti-government protesters in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
Backlash has been swift and harsh<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9’s face has appeared in ads across China, from subway stations to inside elevators.<\/p>\n
Beverage maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground said in similarly worded statements that they were ending agreements with the star, each saying they oppose \u201cany words and actions that hurt national sentiment”.<\/p>\n
The companies did not specify what prompted their decisions, but they released their statements after a clip that appeared to show Mbapp\u00e9 being interviewed ahead of going on the French online talk show \u201cThe Bridge\u201d circulated on X.<\/p>\n
The China Football Association said in a statement that it has \u201clodged a stern protest\u201d with Real Madrid and demanded that both the player and the football club \u201cissue a public and formal apology”.<\/p>\n
The association stressed it firmly opposes \u201cany remarks that hurt the feelings of the Chinese people.\u201d<\/p>\n
China Media Group also said that it has suspended broadcasts of matches in the Spanish league, La Liga, and other games featuring the French star, and removed advertisements featuring him. The media conglomerate demanded an apology from Mbapp\u00e9 and his club, Real Madrid.<\/p>\n
The Spanish league was quick to try to protect its television business in China. It said in a statement that it \u201cdeeply regrets the offense caused to Chinese fans by Mbapp\u00e9\u2019s recent comments. These remarks were made in a personal capacity and do not represent La Liga.\u201d<\/p>\n
The league said it would create a \u201ccommunication protocol\u201d for its players and clubs while working with stakeholders in China to prevent any future incidents.<\/p>\n
Mbapp\u00e9 calls Mao a \u201cdictator\u201d when picking his favorite meme<\/p>\n
In a video clip, Mbapp\u00e9 is asked about his favorite meme of himself, and he replied that it was \u201ca video someone made of a guy … I think he was a Chinese dictator\u201d before the video shows an altered image depicting Mbapp\u00e9’s face on the blue-suited body of Mao Zedong.<\/p>\n
Fans online jokingly call the star \u2014 who’s said to overshadow many of his teammates and even the teams he plays on \u2014 a dictator, and memes showing him as Mao or other autocratic leaders are widely circulated.<\/p>\n
Mao Zedong was a revolutionary who led the Communist Party during its crucial early days, winning a civil war against the ruling Nationalist Party in China, and then founding the modern-day People\u2019s Republic of China.<\/p>\n
Mao is revered by many even today. However, he leaves behind a complex legacy of authoritarian rule, having led campaigns like the Great Leap Forward, an industrialisation project which led to a famine that killed an estimated 30 million people.<\/p>\n
The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds including a big problem for Apple, and the woman who patted a Great White. (Source: 1News)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Football star Kylian Mbapp\u00e9 apologised for comments in which he apparently referred to Mao Zedong, the founding leader…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":643532,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[2300,138,111,139,69,213,1745],"class_list":["post-643531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-asia","tag-business","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports","tag-uk-europe"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643531\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}