US tennis player Taylor Townsend has issued an apology after her "classless" remarks about Chinese cuisine went viral.
The 29-year-old is currently in Shenzhen, China, for the Billie Jean King Cup and made some disturbing comments about the local food at the tournament gala.
Following the controversy, Taylor turned to her Instagram Stories to apologise for her seemingly racist food review.
"I just wanted to come on here and apologise sincerely from the bottom of my heart," she began in the video.
The two-time Grand Slam champion noted, "I have had nothing but the most amazing experience and time here at the tournament, and 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 apologise."
She concluded the message, sharing, "There is no excuse, there are no words… I will be better. I'm really, really thankful to my country and to be able to represent them and be better. That’s all I can do. I just truly apologise."
Taylor Townsend's controversial incident
At the tournament gala, the players were served with traditional Chinese dishes, which was met with a disgusted reaction by Taylor.
She shared the clicks and videos of the food, including sea cucumber, turtle and bullfrog, on her Instagram Stories, asking, "What the hell?"
The doubles World No. 1 later returned to her Instagram to expand on her criticism, reviewing the cuisine, "I'm honestly just so shocked at what I saw in the dinner buffet."
"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?"
The videos sparked an intense reaction from tennis fans, who criticised the tennis player for her "ignorant and disrespectful" comment.