US wrestling superstar John Cena apologised to Chinese fans over his statement regarding calling Taiwan a country during an interview to promote his latest film Fast & Furious 9.
The 44-year-old said Taiwan would be the first “country” to see the latest Fast & Furious while speaking to Taiwanese television TVBS earlier this month,
China regards Taiwan as its province, an assertion that most of the self-ruled, democratic island rejects.
Joining a list of international celebrities, Cena provoked the wrath of an increasingly nationalistic Chinese public over his comments about Taiwan.
Per popular request, here’s Mr. John Cena’s apology video with English subtitles. I kept all the incoherence in the video, as well as the curious absence of what he’s actually apologizing for pic.twitter.com/WmJlRcyOID
— Tony Lin 林東尼 (@tony_zy) May 25, 2021
“I made one mistake. I am very, very sorry for this mistake,” Cena said in Mandarin in a video posted on his account on Weibo, a Twitter-like microblog popular in China.
“I have to say now, something that’s very, very, very, very, very important – I love and respect China and the Chinese people,” he said, without mentioning Taiwan.
On the work front, the film has been a box office hit in mainland China since its open on May 21.
Over the last weekend, China accounted for $135 million of the movie’s $162 million in revenue, according to US.entertainment publication Variety.
