Kylian Mbappé is a superstar in the world of soccer who is finding out the hard way that there's a cost to freedom of expression – especially when the humorless regime in Beijing, and its money, is involved.
Mbappé is a Frenchman with LeBron James-level fame who currently plays for the European powerhouse team Real Madrid.
A huge firestorm erupted last week after the soccer phenom appeared on a French show and was asked to name his favorite meme of himself. Mbappé had a good laugh and replied it was the one where someone had pasted his face onto a picture of a guy he described this way: "I think he was a Chinese dictator."
That guy was Chairman Mao, and Mbappé never even said the name. He merely laughed at the meme.
Well, that was apparently a wall too far for China.
RESTORING AMERICA: French soccer star Kylian Mbappe learned just how easily the Chinese Communist Party can flop. Mbappe never should have backed down or apologized for a funny meme. Circulating across the internet, there is a meme of Mbappe’s face pasted over the body of the Chinese dictator, Mao Zedong. When asked which is his favorite meme of himself, Mbappe said it was the Mao meme, adding, “I think he was a Chinese dictator.” MORE: https://t.co/FOjDZJY25b
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) October 31, 2026
China Media Group, the state outfit that runs China Central Television (CCTV), immediately yanked La Liga – Spain's top professional sports league – off the air and even scrubbed all ads featuring Mbappé.
That's not all – they then declared that apologies from the player, his club, and the league were "an absolute prerequisite" to any talks that would restore the previous relationship.
Three of Mbappé's Chinese sponsors, energy-drink maker Dongpeng, dairy giant Mengniu, and cheese company Milkground, dumped him completely. Mengniu announced the company had a zero tolerance policy for anything that would "hurt the feelings of the Chinese people."
The player's Chinese social media accounts were frozen.
That's what happens when you dare to cross Beijing, even if it was unwitting and all in good fun.
Guess what happened next?
You guessed right, everyone caved.
Mbappé issued a groveling statement saying his comment was "ill-judged" and said he now understood it "hurt many people in China."
https://t.co/MQBo9NCSy5
— Kylian Mbappé (@KMbappe) October 27, 2026
La Liga said it "deeply regrets the offence." League president Javier Tebas met with China's ambassador to Spain and assured the world that "China is and will continue to be a strategic partner for La Liga."
Real Madrid, the most decorated club in European soccer, joined the apology tour a day later.
“Real Madrid C.F. wishes to express its apologies to the Chinese people for any discomfort that may have been caused by the recent words of our player Kylian Mbappé,” the club said in a statement.“Our club holds deep respect for China, its history, its culture, and its citizens, as well as for the millions of Chinese fans who feel affection and admiration for Real Madrid.”
Let's get specific about what they all just apologized for.
Mao's Great Leap Forward produced one of the deadliest famines in human history. Historian Frank Dikötter used Communist Party archives to estimate that the human toll was at least 45 million deaths, including 2 to 3 million people tortured or executed. If "dictator" is an insult, Mao got off pretty light here.
We've been here before. Back in 2019, Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted support for Hong Kong's protesters, and China yanked NBA games off the air for a year. Thankfully, the Rockets refused to fire their coach despite calls from Beijing for them to do so.
Real Madrid cannot, sadly, be credited for having a backbone.
And what did all that groveling by the soccer community get them? Not much, as it turns out.
On Sunday, CCTV declined to air Real Madrid's match against Racing Santander. Real's coach, José Mourinho, insisted the club had "done our part." Beijing, it turns out, decides precisely when your part is done.
The true scandal here isn't China just being China. It's the world of Western sports continuing to be doormats for the almighty paycheck – human rights be damned.
Oh, they'll continue to lecture the rest of us about values, inclusion, and the all-important "speaking truth to power." That's a given.
But, when their fat bank balances are on the line, the truth will be negotiable and the morally weak will continue to be morally weak. Cowardice seems to pay pretty well in this day and age.
