French Footballer Kylian Mbappé Faces Backlash In China After Viral Clip Shows Him Discussing 'Dictator Mbappe' Meme

French pro footballer Kylian Mbappé has become controversial in China after a clip of him referring to a "Chinese dictator" went viral over the last day.The dictator in question is Mao Zedong, leading multiple Chinese brands to drop Mbappé’s deals with them. Mbappé has since issued an apology to China and the Chinese people as the controversy surrounding the incident continues generating discourse online.Soccer star Kylian Mbappé is famous for representing France internationally, including winning the 2018 FIFA World Cup for his country.He has consistently scored for France in the two World Cup editions that followed, as well as in other international tournaments, and captains France’s National Soccer Team since 2023.He has also become a notable player for France’s Paris Saint-Germain and Spain’s Real Madrid, the latter of which is his current club.However, the renowned athlete found himself at the center of a controversy in China for an answer he gave during an interview with The Bridge, a French talk show, in a short clip that was posted to its social media, and which they have since deleted.In the clip, Mbappé talks about a version of the popular "Dictator Mbappé" meme, which depicts him as a Chinese dictator, among other dictator-like personas.😂🇫🇷 Kylian Mbappé avoue qu’il rigole en voyant les memes qui le représentent en… dictateur. 😭 @Thebridge_show #Mbappé #Football #Memes #France https://t.co/MXgKh8Hjjq— Que Du Foot (@Que_Du_Football) October 26, 2026In the video, Mbappé is seen holding a microphone as someone applies make-up on his face as questions appear on text on top of the video in French.The first question is about his favorite artist at the moment, and he answers, also in French. Then, he gets asked to choose his favorite meme."Um, I think the one with Thierry Henry, you know, when he’s smiling," he answers, "that one’s pretty good, because you can use it in so many different ways." Mbappé then tries to replicate Henry's smile in said meme.Then, the clip gets to the new controversial answer, where Mbappé gets asked what meme with his face made him laugh the most."Well, there are tons of them," he says. "The one that made me laugh the most was when someone took a video of a guy. I think it was a Chinese dictator. And they added my face to it."As he speaks, the video shows a GIF where Mbappé's face was edited onto the head and body of Mao Zedong, who founded the People’s Republic of China and ruled it for over three decades. A portion of the Soviet communist flag can be seen in the background."I use it a lot with my friends online, you know, while playing on the PlayStation," Mbappé says.Though Mbappé himself doesn’t mention Mao Zedong by name, it was largely assumed that he was the "Chinese dictator" that he was referring to, as many of the dictator memes superimpose him on imagery of the controversial Chinese leader.On October 26th, the Twitter / X account MadridZone, dedicated to Real Madrid-related news, posted a tweet that made it seem like Mbappé was referring to Mao. The tweet garnered over 4.2 million views in less than two days as it began trending online.The clip quickly spread across social media. Soon after, Chinese companies Dongpeng, Mengniu and Milkground announced that they were ending their deals with him as word of the comment sparking heated reactions on Chinese social spheres began spreading.Despite the controversy from Chinese internet users, on Twitter / X, people expressed their support for Mbappé in the hours following the incident.On October 27th, Mbappé then issued a statement, written in French, Chinese, and English, where he apologized for his comment."I now understand it hurt people in China and Chinese communities around the world," he wrote in the apology. "I apologise to everyone my words have upset," he stated, and concluded by saying that he "has deep respect for Chinese people and their history."Read the original article on Know Your Meme.