By Pritha Ghosh

Copyright sportskeeda

Taylor Townsend has sparked fresh controversy with her remarks about Chinese cuisine and food culture. This comes just weeks after her racism dispute with Jelena Ostapenko at the US Open, which had already sent shockwaves through the tennis world. Townsend is currently part of Team USA’s squad for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals, alongside Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, McCartney Kessler, and Hailey Baptiste. The team is in Shenzhen, with China hosting the event, and is scheduled to face Team Kazakhstan on Thursday, September 18. Before the tie, the American was having dinner with her team on Tuesday, September 16, and made it clear she was unhappy with what was being served. She posted a series of Instagram Stories expressing her disgust at dishes such as sea cucumber, Jia Yu Fu (braised soft-shelled turtle with fish maw), and bullfrog. About the sea cucumber, she wrote:”You guys, this is crazy. This is the craziest thing I’ve ever seen .. and people eating this.”Taylor Townsend later posted a detailed video expanding on her reaction, saying she could not understand how people were able to eat what she described as “poisonous” food. She went on to give the dinner buffet a “solid 2 out of 10.””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 chillies, 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,” she added. Taylor Townsend’s remarks enraged fans, many of whom took to X (formerly Twitter) to call her out, with the majority accusing her of being “racist.” One fan wrote:”And that’s why I stayed quiet on Taylor Townsend cause I knew she ain’t sh*t. How do you travel internationally for work and still so insensitive to other cultures?? Lmao.””This is blatant racism and she’ll cry if she’s in the receiving end,” another wrote. “Black privilege, the ability to say and do whatever you want and still play the victim,” one account tweeted. “This is not gonna go well for her. And honestly, I don’t feel bad for the backlash she’ll get. She should absolutely know that this is gonna be offensive to the cultures that eat this kind of food. Not very smart of her at all,” one user commented. “This is very offensive, to mock other people’s cultural food,” another joined in. “Penko was right. She truly lacks education and class,” one posted. Taylor Townsend issues apology after controversial comments on Chinese foodTaylor Townsend pictured at the 2025 US Open | Image Source: GettyAfter facing heavy backlash online for her remarks about Chinese food, Taylor Townsend quickly addressed the situation on Instagram. In a video posted to her story, she offered a “sincere apology” and spoke about how positive her experience had been in Shenzhen, China.Townsend said:”Hi everybody, I just wanted to come on here and sincerely apologize 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 the things I love so much about what I do.””I have had nothing but the most amazing experiences and such a wonderful time here at the tournament. Everyone has been so kind and so gracious. The things that I said were not representative of that at all. And I just truly wanted to apologize,” she added. The American went on to admit that there were “no excuses” for her remarks, acknowledging that she must do a better job and be more mindful of her words in the future. She also expressed gratitude to her country for the opportunity to represent Team USA at the Billie Jean King Cup Finals.”There’s no excuse, there are no words. For me, I just have to be better. I’m really, really thankful to my country for giving me the opportunity to represent them and to grow from this. That’s all I can do. So I just truly apologize,” Taylor Townsend said. However, Townsend’s apology drew further criticism from fans, many of whom felt it lacked sincerity and should have been more specific.