Kylian Mbappe has not been having a good time the last several months. The French striker, a world renowned soccer superstar, entered the 2026 World Cup with his team being considered the clear favorites to take home the championship, but fell short, losing to Spain in the semifinals. Then, on October 26, he lost the Ballon d’Or, an award given to the best player in international soccer, to Harry Kane.
And while Mbappe did fantastic in the “El Classico” in a showdown with Barcelona, scoring a series of goals in the rivalry match, he refused to wear a shirt that was worn by the rest of his teammates to reaffirm Ceuta’s status as a part of Spain following a massive surge of illegal immigration hit the country from Morocco. Then, the following day, his week took another awful turn.
Mbappe bowed down to China and its government, the Chinese Communist Party, after he made an appearance on a French talk show called “The Bridge” that is hosted by his teammate Aurelien Tchouameni. So what did he do that was so bad? He laughed at a meme. He said the one “that makes me laugh the most” is “the one where there’s a video of a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator, they put my [face over it].”
The show then cut to an example of the meme which featured his face covering an image of what appeared to be Mao Zedong. Mao was without question a vile dictator, full of brutality, often malicious and violent. According to Fox News, the vast majority of historians put the blame for tens of millions of deaths in China on Mao’s policies, which led to famine and persecution. In fact, many consider him to be one of history’s greatest villains.
However, when it comes to the world of professional sports, there are a number of “protected” groups that have to be preserved by the masses and any sort of criticism of them is faux pas. One of those is the Chinese Communist Party. Follow the money, honey. The report notes that telling the truth about the CCP’s abuses could threaten certain powerful people and governments from making a profit from the CCP and that is a no-no.
“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world,” Mbappé went on to write in an embarrassing statement on Tuesday. “I apologize to everyone my words have upset. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry.”
The Spanish soccer league decided that wasn’t good enough, so they crafted an apology of their own, groveling before the CCP. “La Liga deeply regrets the offense caused by Kylian Mbappé’s recent comments among Chinese fans. These comments were made in a personal capacity and do not represent LALIGA. To the extent of our institutional responsibility, we apologize on behalf of LALIGA and all its clubs,” the league statement read.
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OutKick writer Dan Dakich weighed in on the pitiful statements, saying, “I don’t think people fully understand soccer is, and how big soccer players like Mbappé are, all across the world. Mbappé, if you remember, one of the stars of the World Cup when he came to the USA.” And he wasn’t finished, he went on to reveal what likely motivated the cowardly knee-bending of Mbappe.
“Mbappé has all kinds of commercials, all kinds of billboards, all kinds of business interests all over China, including anything from cheese to soft drinks … you name it, he’s got a huge, huge presence in China. Well, that’s all being threatened to go away, because as you know based on what happened with Daryl Morey and others, China doesn’t take kindly to any kind of slur,” Dakich continued.
The Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs slammed Mbappe’s comments. “If you’re going to get in bed with Communist China, if you’re going to get in bed with somebody that isn’t as open and free thinking as we are and Europeans are, then you better shut your d–n mouth. You know, you better just sit back, take your money, and quit screwing around.”
Featured Image: screenshot from embedded video