American tennis star is sorry for “offensive” comments about Chinese cuisine
American tennis star Taylor Townsend apologized after slamming her comments on Chinese food on social media.
The 29-year-old, who competed in the Billie Jean King Cup final in the Chinese city of Shenzhen, posted a video on Instagram, she talked about dishes that included frogs, turtles and sea cucumbers, said: [eating] Turtles and bullfrogs are wild. ”
She quickly faced strong opposition on English and Chinese social media platforms.
Ms. Townsend, the world’s number one doubles player, later apologized: “No excuses, no words, I would be better for me.”
“I know I’m so professional that I’m so able to travel around the world and experience cultural differences, which is one of the things I really like about what I do,” she said in a video posted on Instagram on Wednesday.
Townsend was taken to Instagram the day before to share her reaction to some of the foods she serves in the restaurant, including dishes like stewed soft-shelled turtle, hairtail hair and dry pot beef frozen.
These are considered traditional Chinese cuisine, especially in the south.
“These people are actually killing frogs… bullfrogs. Are those who don’t have poison? Are those who will give you warts, boils and stuff? And turtles? …All in all, I’ll be like two out of ten to date because it’s crazy because it’s crazy,” Ms. Townsend said.
She also posted another video where she appeared to be at the buffet with her teammate Hailey Baptiste, and the two teased the sea cucumbers.
She was quickly called on social media.
“It is obviously offensive to not defend Taylor here, shocking the lack of understanding [that] There are different cultures besides the United States. ” said a user on X.
Another said: “It’s really offensive to laugh at other people’s cultural food.”
Chinese social media quickly revealed her comments, tagged “American tennis players openly insult Chinese food.”
A comment on Weibo said: “When you go abroad, respect local customs and culture. You can choose not to eat it. There is no need to demean our food.”
The latest backlash comes less than a month after Ms. Townsend had a fierce confrontation with Latvian rival Jelena Ostapenko, who said she had no “no class” and “no education.”
Ms. Ostapenko apologized but denied being racist, saying her comments refer to tennis etiquette. “But I understand how the words used make many people offensive outside the tennis court,” she wrote in an Instagram post.
Ms. Townsend and her teammates will face Kazakhstan in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
