During promotion for his upcoming movie Fast & Furious 9, John Cena called Taiwan a country and which caused a major backlash with his Chinese fanbase.

Cena said Taiwan is the “first country” to watch Fast & Furious 9. The video of him saying this went viral and led to him having to make the following apology in in Mandarin:

"Hi China, I’m John Cena. I’m in the middle of Fast & Furious 9 promotions. I’m doing a lot of interviews. I made a mistake in one of my interviews.

Everyone was asking me if I could use Chinese…the staff gave me a lot of information, so there was a lot of interviews and information.

I made one mistake. I have to say something very, very, important now. I love and respect China and Chinese people. I’m very, very sorry about my mistake. I apologize, I’m very sorry.

You must understand that I really love, really respect China and the Chinese people. My apologies. See you."

Cena's formal longtime rival WWE Hall Of Famer John Bradshaw Layfield took to social media to  show support for Cena.

Here’s what JBL tweeted:

“John Cena has granted over 600 Make a Wishes-a record. Supported cancer research, rise above hate campaign, a million of his own dollars for racial equality. He has fought tirelessly for equality. An incredible track record of making the world better. I’ll stand with this guy.”

.@JohnCena has granted over 600 Make a Wishes-a record. Supported cancer research, rise above hate campaign, a million of his own dollars for racial equality. He has fought tirelessly for equality. An incredible track record of making the world better. I’ll stand with this guy. pic.twitter.com/QrySEYBCYe

, John Layfield (@JCLayfield) May 25, 2021