A recent photo and video of Kylian Mbappè with French celebrity blogger and influencer Jérémy Gisclon, popularly known as Jeremstar, went viral.
In the photo, Mbappè was seen with Jeremstar attending the interview “ Le Bain de Jeremstar” (Jeremstar’s Bathtub), where the interview takes place in a bathtub with bubble foam and rubber ducks, and the host and the guest sit in swimwear.
Right after the post appeared, it went viral, garnering negative reactions from fans and football enthusiasts worldwide. The majority of the backlash was targeted on how Mbappè is ready to do any Pr campaign for the sake of winning a Ballon d’Or. The visuals of a big football star like Mbappè and a grown man appeared very absurd and weird to all fans.
Until… the fact that this never happened. The video and images were purely AI-generated; hence, this interview never occurred in the first place.
But hold on. Even though it has turned out to be a fake video, social media is still mocking Mbappè because they almost believed this interview happened, because that is how Mbappè’s PR campaigns are going.
His recent active participation in interviews and media has earned him a not-so-good reputation surrounding the fact that he is giving his all for that Ballon d’Or.
Mbappè is currently one of the pioneers on the list of Ballon d’Or winners’ nominations. Although he has won the Golden Boot in La Liga, the Champions League and the 2026 World Cup, not everyone is convinced that he should be in the running. The Real Madrid star player garnered hate train particularly for his media campaigns.
His prioritisation of individual PR over the team is one factor that football fans dislike about his run for the Ballon d’Or. His tightly packed schedule, consisting of high-profile interviews featuring CNN, France Football and RFI, gained wide attention.
Because it was timed 17 days before his crucial club matches, and coordinating such large interviews might indeed have been hectic, that might have resulted in his underperformance.
The French footballer’s statement in his promotional interviews sparked controversy that individual awards should only value personal excellence, and on top of that, he subtly compared himself to fellow peers and current Ballon d’Or winner Ousmane Dembélé. In one of the recent interviews with French media, Mbappè addressed that he is indeed “the chosen one”.
“He (Dembélé) has always been seen as a talented player. I, on the other hand, have always been seen as the chosen one. I was at the top right away, from a very young age. He had a different journey, with injuries, but he has caught up really well.
This statement acquired Mbappè a lot of hate and negative reactions. Including former French footballer Jérôme Rothen, who was agitated that Mbappè is trying so hard for the Ballon d’Or and that he has a strategy to win it, which is what all these campaigns are about.
Even Mbappè fans themselves have admitted that the Pr work is putting him behind. No one is arguing that he is not an elite player; he indeed has the calibre and the spirit, but being the star boy of Real Madrid and the chosen-one tag is getting to him.
In accordance with the recent AI deepfake joke, die-hard fans have also defended the player because he clearly did not deserve to be thrashed like that.
The Jeremstar’s Bathtub is a popular French online interview where he has interviewed popular internet personalities of France including TV stars, influencers etc. It was originally popularized in the 2010’s and even featured stars from French reality shows like Secret Story and Les Anges.
Neither Jeremstar nor Mbappé has responded to the circulation of the fake video or released a statement. Mbappè will be taking part in the UEFA Nations League, representing France against Türkiye on September 26. He will be back to play for Real Madrid on October 11th following the international break.
