Dubai: American tennis player Taylor Townsend issued an apology on Wednesday after comments she made about traditional Chinese dishes sparked backlash on Chinese social media.

Townsend, currently competing in the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen, China, posted a video to Instagram on Tuesday night reacting to food served at a dinner buffet. “What the hell… turtle and bullfrog is WILD,” she said in her Instagram story. In a follow-up video, she added: “These people are literally killing frogs, bullfrogs. Aren’t those the ones that give you warts and boils and stuff?”

Her remarks quickly drew criticism online, especially on China’s Twitter-like platform Weibo. The hashtag “American tennis player publicly insults Chinese food” became one of the platform’s top trending topics, garnering over 50 million views by Wednesday afternoon.

Many Weibo users condemned Townsend’s comments as disrespectful to Chinese culinary culture, which includes dishes featuring turtle and bullfrog. However, the online discourse also took a dark turn, with some users directing racist comments at Townsend, who is Black.

Facing mounting criticism, Townsend returned to Instagram on Wednesday to offer a heartfelt apology.

“I just wanted to come on here and apologise sincerely from the bottom of my heart,” she said in the video. “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.”

Despite the controversy, Townsend remains a key part of the US team competing in the Billie Jean King Cup. The American squad is set to face Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals on Thursday.

The incident has reignited discussions around cultural sensitivity, public figures’ use of social media, and the role of online discourse in global sports diplomacy.

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