Jose Mourinho said that “often the best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut” when asked about the angry reaction to “ill-judged” comments made by Kylian Mbappe about China’s late leader Mao Zedong.
The Real Madrid head coach said that causing offence was one of the “dangers of today’s world” but added that the France forward acted “very responsibly” and showed “true class” by quickly apologising.
Mbappe apologised after saying the meme that made him laugh the most was one that compared him to Mao, who died in 1976, calling him a “Chinese dictator”.
Mourinho was asked about the issue in his pre-match news conference on Saturday before Sunday’s La Liga game at Racing Santander.
The Portuguese manager said: “Those are the dangers of today’s world where often the best thing you can do is keep your mouth shut, because there’s danger in so many things you say or comment on.
“But I’ve also seen him act very responsibly toward a club that, at this level, is truly first-class. And as far as we’re concerned, that’s it. There’s nothing else for us to do.”
Mbappe, who is often called a “dictator” because of his huge influence in football, was discussing his nickname during an episode of French talk show The Bridge when the host asked him about memes that made him laugh.
The 27-year-old said the meme that made him “laugh the most” was “a video of a guy, I think it’s a Chinese dictator…” before the show switched to footage of a meme showing Mbappe’s face superimposed on an image resembling Mao.
A clip of the exchange caused a backlash on social media in China and around the world and led a number of Chinese brands to drop Mbappe.
On Tuesday, the Real forward issued a statement apologising for his “ill-judged” comments and said that “I now understand that it hurt many people in China and in Chinese communities around the world”.
Mourinho, who won La Liga in 2011-12 during his first spell in charge of Real, was also asked if he was worried about being misrepresented by fake video clips of him and Mbappe created using artificial intelligence.
“I don’t worry,” he said. “My club is Real Madrid, and my player is Kylian Mbappe.
“Both Real Madrid and Kylian Mbappe have shown the class to react immediately, and I feel very well represented by both of them.”