BEIJING, Oct 28 — Kylian Mbappe struggled to dissipate anger on Chinese social media on Wednesday despite apologising for his comments on Mao Zedong that cost him several commercial deals in the huge market.
Mocking Mao remains strictly taboo 50 years after the former leader’s death, and Mbappe has been dropped by several Chinese brands and state television has scrapped broadcasts of the Spanish league.
The Real Madrid player apologised on Tuesday for saying that the funniest internet meme involving him was of his face photoshopped onto “some guy — I think he’s a Chinese dictator”, an apparent reference to Mao.
Mbappe’s original joke was not reposted — or had been scrubbed — from China’s tightly-controlled social media, with state media omitting any references to Mao, saying instead that the footballer had made “inappropriate remarks concerning China”.
