Real Madrid forward Kylian Mbappe has criticised a viral social media meme that superimposes his face onto the body of a dictator, saying it reflects a “lack of political and human awareness”.
The France international, 27, acknowledged that the AI-generated meme could be seen as humorous by some people, but said comparisons with dictators who caused widespread suffering were inappropriate.
Mbappe made the comments in an interview with France Football on Friday, saying he understood that some supporters shared the meme in a light-hearted way because of his dominance on the pitch and influence at club level.
“There’s a funny side to it because you can sense that, for some people, it’s good-natured,” Mbappe said.
However, he added that there was also “a side that’s a bit less funny” because of the historical damage caused by the figures he was being compared with.
“Being compared to people who murder others, or who have made millions upon millions of people miserable… I don’t think I’ve done that in my life,” he said.
Mbappe said that while he recognised the meme was not necessarily intended to be offensive, it could reveal a lack of understanding of the political and human consequences associated with such figures.
The Real Madrid star also spoke about the nickname “Mobut”, which France teammate Ousmane Dembele used for him during the 2026 World Cup.
The nickname is a reference to Mobutu Sese Seko, the former dictator who ruled the Democratic Republic of Congo, then known as Zaire, for three decades.
Mbappe, however, distinguished Dembele’s nickname from the wider social media meme, saying his team-mate was simply joking after picking it up from social media.
“Ousmane, that’s a different thing. He took that from social media. He’s just having a laugh,” Mbappe said.
