Chinese brands drop Mbappe for 'offending national sentiments' on ex-leader Mao Zedong

Kylian Mbappe has been dropped by major Chinese brands after a video circulated of the Real Madrid and France superstar apparently joking about Mao Zedong.

There were also signs of broader repercussions, with state-run The Paper reporting that public television was suspending broadcasts of matches from Spain's La Liga.

The offending video shows Mbappe saying that the funniest internet meme he had seen involving him was of his face photo-shopped onto that of "some guy -- I think he's a Chinese dictator".

This was an apparent reference to a meme of Mbappe superimposed on an image of Mao, one of several using the footballer's face and other historical figures.

The authenticity of the video could not immediately be verified by AFP Fact Check.

In China, jokes about Mao, the country's founding leader who died in 1976 -- and whose drastic policies are also blamed by historians for mass starvation and millions of deaths -- remain taboo.

Source: The Standard Sports