La Liga: Mbappe condemns AI meme comparing him to dictator

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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”.

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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.

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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.

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“There’s a funny side to it because you can sense that, for some people, it’s good-natured,” Mbappe said.

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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.

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“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.

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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.

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The Real Madrid star also spoke about the nickname “Mobut”, which France teammate Ousmane Dembele used for him during the 2026 World Cup.

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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.

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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.

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“Ousmane, that’s a different thing. He took that from social media. He’s just having a laugh,” Mbappe said.

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