American tennis player Taylor Townsend has issued a public apology after her remarks on Chinese cuisine caused a backlash ahead of the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen.
On Tuesday night, Townsend shared an Instagram story reacting to dishes served at a dinner buffet. “What the hell… turtle and bullfrog is WILD,” she wrote, later adding in a video: “These people are literally killing frogs, bullfrogs. Aren’t those the ones that give you warts and boils and stuff?”
Her comments quickly went viral in China. The hashtag “American tennis player publicly insults Chinese food” trended on Weibo, amassing over 50 million views by Wednesday afternoon. While many criticised her lack of cultural awareness, some posts descended into racist abuse, targeting the 28-year-old Black athlete.
Facing the uproar, Townsend returned to Instagram on Wednesday to apologise. “I just wanted to come on here and apologise sincerely from the bottom of my heart. I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here. The things that I said were not representative of that at all. There’s no excuse. I will be better.”
Townsend is part of the United States team, which faces Kazakhstan in the Billie Jean King Cup quarterfinal in Shenzhen on Thursday.
Published on Sep 17, 2025