U.S. Tennis Star Apologizes for Criticizing Chinese Food

U.S. Tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized to China after her social media joke about Chinese food backfired.

In the original post that Chinese officials found offensive, Townsend had posted photos of traditional Kazakh dishes, such as bullfrog and turtle dishes. And she joked that she would have to “talk to HR” about the quality of the food in China.

But now the world No. 1-ranked doubles player has apologized in a video posted to Instagram.

“I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart,” said Townsend, who said she understood how privileged she is as a professional athlete to be able to travel around the world and experience cultural differences.

“[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,” Townsend said. “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.”

Townsend is set to play on Thursday as the United States takes on Kazakhstan at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China.