The Bridge, the programme presented by Aurélien Tchouaméni, issued an official apology after backlash over a video clip of Kylian Mbappé. In the clip, Mbappé joked about satirical composite images linking his face to Mao Zedong.
How the clip emerged
GOAL said the behind-the-scenes clip was filmed last April and was published on Aurélien Tchouaméni's social media account on Monday. In the footage, Mbappé jokingly commented on composite images of his face and referred to what he thought was a "Chinese dictator", a nod to Mao Zedong.
The programme's apology
The programme apologised in a statement on its Instagram stories. The Bridge said: "We regret that this clip caused offence to people in China and elsewhere around the world."
The Bridge said: "We offer our apologies to everyone who felt offended, to Kylian, his partners, and the institutions whose relations with China and the Chinese people may have been affected."
Deletion and fallout
GOAL said the programme's account deleted the clip less than 2 hours after publishing it, once it began circulating on Chinese social media platforms. According to GOAL, Mbappé had issued his own apology earlier on 27 October.
GOAL said three Chinese companies ended their contracts with Mbappé: Dongpeng, Mengniu and Milkground. According to GOAL, CCTV decided to suspend coverage of Spanish league matches and any game Mbappé might feature in, and to pull advertisements starring him.
Approval before publication
According to RMC Sport, cited by GOAL, Mbappé's team had approved the clip before it was published.
