Mbappé apologises after Mao remark as Chinese sponsors drop him and Dior pulls posts

Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappé, a long-standing global ambassador for Dior, is facing a commercial backlash in China over remarks about a meme, CNBC and The Business of Fashion report.

What happened

In a clip from the French programme The Bridge, Mbappé said the funniest meme he had seen of himself put his face onto “some guy - I think he’s a Chinese dictator”, according to Reuters, which said it could not independently authenticate the video. The image showed Mao Zedong, founding leader of the People’s Republic of China.

The fallout

• Beverage maker Dongpeng (which named him ambassador of its Bushuila sports drink only in April), dairy group Mengniu and cheese maker Milkground announced they were ending their partnerships, according to statements compiled by the state portal China.org.cn.
• Dior and the Swiss sportswear brand On reportedly removed Chinese promotional content featuring him, but neither announced a global termination, CNBC said citing Phoenix; BoF notes that Dior and LVMH did not confirm a wider break.
• State broadcaster CCTV suspended La Liga coverage and matches involving him and pulled ads in which he appeared; his Weibo and Xiaohongshu accounts, each with about a million followers, were reportedly muted.

The apology

On 27 October Mbappé posted an apology on X in Chinese, French and English: “I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.” China’s Foreign Ministry said it took the apology seriously, while CCTV said it would “watch his actions even more closely”. The case shows how quickly a global ambassador can become a liability for luxury and consumer brands in China.