John Cena, ‘F9’ star, makes groveling apology video to China after calling Taiwan a ‘country’

Actor John Cena issued a video Tuesday apologizing to China and saying he “loves” the communist state after he made a “mistake” in recognizing Taiwan as a country while promoting his new film.

Mr. Cena, who stars in the ninth installment of the “Fast & Furious” franchise, “F9,” sparked outrage in China after giving an interview to Taiwanese broadcaster TVBS and saying in Mandarin, “Taiwan is the first country that can watch ‘F9,’” the New York Post reported.

China does not recognize Taiwan‘s independence and considers the island part of its territory.

Mr. Cena, who reportedly has studied Chinese for years, later issued an apology video on Weibo, China‘s social media platform, saying he “made a mistake.”

“Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of ‘Fast and Furious 9’ promotions. I’m doing a lot of interviews. I made a mistake in one of my interviews,” the former WWE star said in Mandarin, according to the Post.

“I made one mistake,” he reportedly said. “I have to say something very, very, very important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologize, I apologize, I’m very sorry. You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you.”

Mr. Cena was ruthlessly criticized in the U.S. by both sides of the political aisle for the apology, with many critics tying it to China‘s ongoing genocide of its Uyghur minority.

Truly one of the most pathetic signs of groveling weakness I’ve ever witnessed. Don’t worry, dude. Your blood money is safe, and your agent forgives you. https://t.co/UhQp0mvn3m

— Jeremy Boreing (@JeremyDBoreing) May 25, 2021

The same celebrities that will kneel during the anthem, make threats against a President, and say this is a fascist country…

…will gladly bow down to a country that has literal concentration camps.

They’re frauds. Every. Single. One. Of. Them. https://t.co/YTIMzQIFH4

— Alex Marlow (@AlexMarlow) May 25, 2021

How shameful, Cena.

Taiwan is a country – and a democracy. You just apologized to a dictatorship. https://t.co/rBx50uQgF6

— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) May 25, 2021

John Cena supports genocide https://t.co/cs4kPp7ae5

— Tim Pool (@Timcast) May 25, 2021

The West’s theory was that “opening” China to capitalism would undermine their authoritarianism. Instead, it strengthened their authoritarianism and undermined the West’s willingness to fight it. https://t.co/CX7GR5YuNW

— Ben Shapiro (@benshapiro) May 25, 2021

Pretty striking example of what I called the Chinese “values tariff”:

That is, if a normal tariff is a tax on imported goods, a values tariff requires firms and businesspeople to publicly sacrifice a share of their morals to do certain business in Chinahttps://t.co/iXdZdkyMSK

— Derek Thompson (@DKThomp) May 25, 2021