Tennis star Taylor Townsend sorry for videos mocking Chinese cuisine
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
FILE PHOTO: Sep 2, 2025; Flushing, NY, USA; Taylor Townsend of the United States and Katerina Siniakova of Czech Republic in action against Venus Williams of the United States and Leylah Fernandez of Canada in the quarterfinal of the women’s doubles at the US Open at Louis Armstrong Stadium in Billie Jean King National Tennis Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images/File Photo
REUTERS
Follow topic:
Tennis star Taylor Townsend apologized over social media on Wednesday for making disparaging comments about Chinese food.
Townsend's mea culpa came days after she posted a series of now-deleted videos on Instagram in which she mocked a buffet in China that included bullfrogs and soft-shelled turtles.
She wondered if bullfrogs were "poisonous" and that consuming them could cause "warts and boils." She also joked that she would need to "talk to HR" about the food.
Townsend, 29, was in Shenzhen representing the United States in the Billie Jean King Cup when she posted a video of a buffet.
After facing swift backlash for having cultural insensitivities, Townsend offered an apology.
"I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart," Townsend said on Instagram.
"(It's) one of the things that I love so much about what I do, and I have had nothing but the most amazing experience in time here and the tournament. Everyone has been so kind and so gracious. And the things that I said were not representative of that at all. And I just truly wanted to apologize. There's no excuse. There are no words. And for me, I just, I will be better."
--Field Level Media REUTERS
