Mbappé Apologized Over Inappropriate Joke That Caused Uproar

Imagine being one of the biggest football stars in the world, only to wake up and discover that an entire nation is furious with you, your sponsors have dumped you, your face is disappearing from advertisements and even promotional posters.

Welcome to Kylian Mbappé's week.

The Real Madrid superstar has landed in hot water this week after a video circulated online showing him discussing a meme. 

Huge Repercussions

Kylian Mbappé has apologised after his video gone viral. But still, there were signs of broader repercussions

Beverage giant Dongpeng, which during this year's World Cup ran adverts with AI-generated images of Mbappe consuming its sports drink, said it was terminating all cooperation with the France captain.

"Our company firmly opposes and has a zero-tolerance policy towards any behaviour that offends national sentiments," Dongpeng said in a statement.

Mengniu, China's largest dairy producer, and cheesemaker Milkground also said that they were cutting ties with Mbappe, who until now was hugely popular among Chinese fans with millions of followers on social media.

Many Are Angry But Don't Know What He Said

Some Chinese netizens were asking a rather basic question: "What did he actually say?"

One user reportedly complained that Weibo was full of posts about sponsors terminating their contracts, but they couldn't find a post of Mbappé's original comment. Meanwhile, a Chinese sports platform said it would not translate his remarks because they were considered too offensive. 

But here's where things get interesting.

Think about that for a second. Everyone's discussing the controversy, brands are cutting ties, and Mbappé is apologising. Yet many people are still trying to figure out what started the whole thing, while media outlets unable to explain exactly what happened. 

So, what do you think? Was this a case of Mbappé making a careless joke, or has the backlash gone too far?

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