Kylian Mbappe has been forced to apologise for his comments around a meme of himself and Mao Zedong.The Real Madrid star angered people in China after a video of him discussing memes emerged.Mbappe finished second in the Ballon d’Or behind Harry KaneAFPHe claims that the one that makes him laugh a lot is one that shows him as Mao.Former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Mao ruled the country from 1949 until 1976.He is still revered by the Communist Party, despite an often violent rule that left millions dead.In the clip, he is alleged to call Mao a ‘Chinese dictator’ and laughs.The backlash from China has been very severe and led to him being dropped by several Chinese brands.Mbappe has since issued an apology.The statement has been released in French, English and Chinese on his social media accounts.He said: “During a recent interview, I reacted to an image of myself.“My comment was ill-judged, and I now understand that it hurt many people in China and Chinese communities around the world.“I apologise to everyone my words have upset. This was absolutely not my intention. I have deep respect for the Chinese people and their history, and I am sincerely sorry. Kylian Mbappe.”Mbappe immediately apologised but had already been dropped by several brandsGettyChinese responseDongpeng, a huge beverage company, have dropped Mbappe from all of their products.During the World Cup, the company sold bottles with images of the Frenchman on them.In a statement, they said: “Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments.”They are not alone either, with Mengniu, the country’s biggest dairy company, cutting all commercial ties with the striker.Cheesemaker Milkground also decided to follow the lead of Dongpeng and Mengniu.And it could prove to be financially damaging to LaLiga as well.Chinese state publication The Paper claims that the country’s biggest broadcaster CCTV is set to remove all Spanish top-flight games and have cut all advertisements featuring Mbappe.LaLiga have been left reeling by the backlash from ChinaGettyLaLiga’s responseAfter the news of LaLiga being dropped in China, the league issued a statement.They have tried to distance themselves from the Mbappe incident and apologised for the whole division to the people of China.LaLiga’s chairman Javier Tebas said: “I take on the responsibility of working with our clubs and players to strengthen awareness of and respect for different cultures.“I wish to personally apologise to Chinese fans for the offence caused. I have deep respect for China, its institutions and its people, and I value the trust with which, for so many years, they have supported our football.“We want to nurture this relationship through action, and we will implement concrete measures to help ensure that situations like this do not happen again.”Day to forgetAs the backlash increased in China, Mbappe also missed out on the Ballon d’Or.He was in London for the ceremony and finished second to Harry Kane.Mbappe was the top goalscorer in LaLiga, the Champions League and the World Cup, but he didn’t win anything for club or country in the 2025/26 season.In the end, despite leading for a long time, Mbappe missed out.Explaining the process, France Football’s editor Vincent Garcia revealed just how close it was.He said: “I was watching the results in real time during the month of the vote.“Kylian led the race for a long time, but Harry Kane came back into contention, and in the end, it was decided by a very, very small number of points.”