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World Service,28 Oct 2026,9 mins

Why Kylian Mbappe has been cancelled in China

What in the World

Available for over a year

Kylian Mbapp茅 - the French football superstar sometimes nicknamed a 鈥楧ictator鈥� online - has found himself at the centre of a scandal in China this week, after mentioning one of the memes made about him. It shows his face on the body of Mao Zedong, the former Chinese leader, and on a French talk show, when Mbapp茅 describes it, he refers to Mao as a dictator. The backlash against Mbapp茅 has been huge. He鈥檚 been dropped by major Chinese brands, shops have pulled football shirts with his name off the shelves, and the state broadcaster has even stopped showing La Liga matches. Mbapp茅, Real Madrid and La Liga - the Spanish league - have all apologised. So how did a joke about meme become so controversial in China - and what does it tell us about censorship in the country? Kerry Allen, the 91福利社鈥檚 China Media Analyst, talks us through it all - and we hear from the 91福利社 Global China Unit鈥檚 Shawn Yuan, who explains how censorship in China is changing. Instagram: @bbcwhatintheworld Email: whatintheworld@bbc.co.uk WhatsApp: +44 330 12 33 22 6 Presenter: Hannah Gelbart Producers: Chelsea Coates and William Lee Adams Editor: Verity Wilde

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