Chinese influencer Wang Mengyun has issued an apology for a viral video of her eating a bat on a travel show.
Although the video was filmed back in 2016, it recently resurfaced and sparked outrage in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak as bats have been identified as possible carriers of the disease.
In the video, the travel presenter rips the creature apart with her hands before eating it with chopsticks in a soup.
Wang Mengyun has broken her silence about the video, which has been viewed by millions of people, in a lengthy post on her website, revealing she was inundated with abuse from punters across the globe, including death threats.
“I am sorry, everyone. I should not have eaten a bat,” she wrote.
She adds that while the video is definitely real, it was not filmed in Wuhan — or even China — but in Palau, Micronesia.
See her full response below:
Chinese influencer Wang Mengyun issues apology for eating bat linked to the Coronavirus outbreak.
The death toll has risen to 132 in China, with 6,078 confirmed cases of infection. At least 96 cases have been recorded outside of China. pic.twitter.com/ommTWfpcnh
— Pop Crave (@PopCrave) January 29, 2020
The coronavirus has killed at least 106 people in China and has affected more than 4,588 worldwide.
