José Mourinho, head coach of Real Madrid, stated that "often the best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut" when asked about the angry reaction to Kylian Mbappé's "inappropriate" comments regarding the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday ahead of Sunday's La Liga match at Racing Santander, Mourinho added that provoking offence is one of the "dangers of today's world".
The French striker apologised after saying that the meme that made him laugh the most was one in which his face was superimposed on a "Chinese dictator" resembling Mao Zedong. Mao Zedong died in 1976. Mbappé discussed his nickname during an episode of the French talk show The Bridge, when the host asked him about memes that had amused him. He said the meme that made him laugh the most was "a video of a guy, I think it's the Chinese dictator...", after which the show cut to a clip of the meme showing Mbappé's face superimposed on an image resembling Mao.
The clip of the exchange sparked a negative reaction on social media in China and around the world, and several Chinese brands ended their partnerships with Mbappé. On Tuesday, Mbappé issued a statement in which he apologised for his "inappropriate" comments. "I now understand that this has hurt many people in China and Chinese communities around the world," Mbappé said.
Mourinho assessed that the French striker had acted "very responsibly" and shown "real class" by apologising quickly. "Both Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappé showed class by reacting immediately, and I feel that both of them represented me very well," Mourinho said. He also added that Mbappé is often called a "dictator" because of his huge influence in football.
Mourinho was also asked if he was worried about being misrepresented by fake video clips of him and Mbappé created using artificial intelligence. "I am not worried," Mourinho replied. "My club is Real Madrid, and my player is Kylian Mbappé," he added. Mourinho won La Liga in 2011-12 during his first tenure at Real Madrid.
