Chinese brands cut ties with French soccer star Mbappé over ‘Chinese dictator’ remark
- Chinese drinks giant Dongpeng Beverage and dairy producer Mengniu terminated all cooperation with Real Madrid and France forward Kylian Mbappe on Tuesday following online backlash over his comments about Mao Zedong.
- A circulating video showed Mbappe joking about an internet meme depicting his face photoshopped onto Mao, the country's founding leader whose image remains a social taboo in China.
- Dongqiudi, one of China's biggest online football outlets, said the remarks were "offensive to China and the Chinese people" and "have hurt the feelings of Chinese football fans." Dongpeng and Mengniu cited "zero-tolerance" policies toward behavior offending national sentiments.
- "Dongpeng Beverage ends cooperation with Mbappe" became the top-trending topic on Weibo as social media users urged the company to remove his image from energy drink bottles.
- In a French sports newspaper L'Equipe interview, Mbappe previously addressed memes depicting him as historical figures, noting that while some are funny, comparisons to individuals who caused historical damage are "less funny.
322 Articles
322 Articles
Companies from the Asian giant cancelled contracts with the Frenchman of Real Madrid; Spanish LaLiga apologized
After losing several partnerships and pushing the president of the Liga to apologize, the star of Real Madrid released a statement on Monday at the end of a busy morning.
Bowen Island Undercurrent
Soccer star Kylian Mbappé apologizes for remark about ‘Chinese dictator’
BEIJING (AP) — Soccer star Kylian Mbappé apologized 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 three different Chinese companies
Kylian Mbappé apologized this Tuesday after controversial comments about Mao Zedong, which led several Chinese companies to disassociate themselves from him. The French international expressed its "deep...
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