HONG KONG — American tennis player Taylor Townsend apologized Wednesday for her comments about Chinese food, which many people criticized as culturally insensitive.
Townsend, who is in the Chinese tech hub of Shenzhen for the finals of the Billie Jean King Cup, came under fire after she expressed shock and confusion at local delicacies served at a buffet, including bullfrogs and soft-shelled turtles.
“What the hell?” Townsend, 29, said of sea cucumbers that were among the dishes available in a video posted on her Instagram account that has since been deleted. “This is crazy. I have never seen one of these up close, especially not to eat.”
In another video, Townsend questioned whether the bullfrogs offered at the buffet were “poisonous” and would cause “warts and boils.”
“These people are literally killing frogs, bullfrogs,” said Townsend, a two-time Grand Slam doubles champion, who also expressed disbelief at the sight of animal organs, including chicken hearts, gizzards and a “big-ass” sliced lung.
Townsend said she ate only noodles in the restaurant and would rate the dinner a “solid 2 out of 10” overall.
Her comments have been widely criticized as culturally insensitive on Chinese social media, with relevant hashtags getting over 85 million views on Weibo, a platform similar to X.
“It’s totally normal to come across foods that aren’t your taste when competing abroad,” a Weibo user wrote. “But it’s really inappropriate to openly express disgust to the world.”
“The world doesn’t revolve around you,” another user posted. “It’s your right to choose what not to eat, but showing respect is basic courtesy.”
Townsend issued an apology Wednesday, saying that she has “had nothing but the most amazing experience” in China and that her previous remarks were “not representative of that at all.”
“I just truly want to apologize,” she said in a video on Instagram. “There’s no excuse. There’s no words. And, for me, I will be better.”
“I understand that I am so privileged as a professional athlete to be able to travel all around the world and experience cultural differences, which is one of the things I love so much about what I do,” she added.
Townsend, who had a tense courtside argument with her opponent Jelena Ostapenko at the U.S. Open last month, is representing Team USA at the Billie Jean King Cup, which is known as the World Cup of women’s tennis. The U.S. team will compete against Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals at 10 a.m. local time Thursday (10 p.m. Wednesday ET).
Bullfrogs and soft-shelled turtles are considered highly nutritious delicacies in China. In many restaurants across the country, animal organs such as beef offal are displayed to show freshness, especially for hotpot.
