A day after American tennis star Taylor Townsend feverishly apologized for her ‘ignorant’ criticism of Chinese food while playing in a tournament in the country, fans booed and taunted her.
Townsend walked onto the court at the Billie Jean King Cup in Shenzhen, China on Thursday, alongside fellow American Jessica Pegula, only to be met with boos and jeers from the Chinese crowd.
Townsend does not react to the boos that filled the arena, as she wore a red top and a navy skirt representing the United States.
The 29-year-old, who found herself at the center of a racism storm during the US Open last month after opponent Jelena Ostapenko attacked her for having ‘no class’ and ‘no education,’ has now sparked a fury of her own.
Before the quarterfinal win over Kazakhstan, she shared her distaste for the traditional Chinese served at the tournament’s gala.
Fans quickly sparked backlash over the ‘offensive’ and ‘super ignorant’ comments and now Townsend has taken to social media to apologize for the remarks.
American tennis star Taylor Townsend was met with boos and taunts in China on Thursday
The tennis star shared her disgusted reaction to the specialty dishes at the tournament gala
In an Instagram story on Tuesday night, Townsend said: ‘Hi, everybody, I just wanted to come on here and apologize sincerely from the bottom of my heart.’
‘I understand that I am so privileged as a professional athlete to be able to travel all around the world and experience cultural differences, which is one of things that love much about what do, and I have had nothing but the most amazing and time here.
‘Everyone has been so kind, so gracious and the things that I said were not representative of that at all. I just truly wanted to apologize.
‘There is no excuse, no words. For me, I will be better. I’m really thankful my country to be able to represent them. To be better that’s all that I can do.’
Earlier on Tuesday, Townsend had shared a series of Instagram stories sharing her surprised and disgusted reaction to the specialty dishes on offer at the event, including sea cucumber, turtle and bullfrog.
In a series of Instagram posts, Townsend shared a video of herself examining the buffet before she zoomed in on the sea cucumber asking, ‘What the hell?’
Alongside a separate clip of the dish, Townsend wrote: ‘This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen .. and people eating this.’
The tennis player later returned to her Instagram to expand on her criticism, delivering a brutal review of the cuisine.
Tennis star Taylor Townsend has apologized for her criticisms of Chinese food on social media
In a series of Instagram stories, Townsend questioned the cuisine on offer to the players
‘I’m honestly just so shocked at what I saw in the dinner buffet,’ she said. ‘As I go back and I look… these people are literally killing frogs… bullfrogs. Aren’t those poisonous? Aren’t those the ones that give you warts and boils and stuff?
‘And the fact that it’s all stewed up with chilies, peppers, and onions. Like oh, you really made this a dish. All in all I’d give this like a solid 2 out of 10 so far, because this is crazy.’
Tennis fans were left outraged by Townsend’s comments with many branding them ‘super ignorant’ on social media.
‘This is very offensive, to mock other people’s cultural food,’ one fan wrote on X.
‘Won’t defend Taylor here, clearly offensive and shows a lack of understanding there are different cultures other than USA…,’ one supporter admitted, as a disappointed third added: ‘Damn taylor, you can do better.’
Meanwhile, another asked: ‘Taylor Townsend calling Chinese people “these people” while making fun of/being disgusted at Chinese food and delicacies. Is that racist?’
On the court, Townsend and Pegula defeated Yulia Putintseva and Elena Rybakina 6-2, 7-6 (1), setting up a matchup with Great Britain in the semifinals on Saturday.
