Thierry Henry has addressed the uproar following the Ballon d'Or ceremony after making headlines for his comments towards Lamine Yamal and an interaction with co-host Kate Scott. The Frenchman insists that both instances were taken out of context.
Henry and Scott were the faces of the ceremony held in London, which saw Harry Kane become the first Englishman in 25 years to lift the prestigious Ballon d'Or.
One of the more discussed moments unfolded when 19-year-old Yamal accepted his third consecutive award for Best Young Player of the Year.
Henry quizzed the teenager on stage:
This is your third award, right?
But is this really the one you wanted to win?
This comment sparked backlash as some viewers felt the French legend was deliberately putting Yamal on the spot just before announcing the winner of the main accolade.
In response, Henry clarified his intentions:
I've seen a lot of talk about the Ballon d'Or ceremony, so I want to clear things up for those who got a bit too worked up over nothing.
He emphasized that he meant no harm to the Barcelona star's pride.
First of all, I wasn't trying to put Lamine in his place or test his ego.
I just thought, since he's winning this award for the third time, why not ask if it was truly the one he wanted?
According to Henry, the humour was well understood by those present at the venue.
People laughed because we all know what award he really wanted.
Unfortunately, he didn't get it.
Henry was keen to express his admiration for Yamal.
I'm a huge fan of Lamine Yamal.
I never meant to hurt his ego.
If you didn't like the joke, that's fine, but don't create an issue where there isn't one.
The former forward even mentioned he would pay to watch Yamal play.
He’s one of those players I’d pay to see.
I really enjoy his football.
I simply asked him if that was the award he wanted because I knew the main award would be given later.
Another contentious moment came during the presentation of the Socrates Award.
Henry corrected Kate Scott's pronunciation of the Brazilian's name, which led to accusations of rudeness.
Andrew Downie, the author of a book on Socrates, claimed Scott pronounced the name correctly, while Henry got it wrong.
However, Henry explained that the exchange was intended as part of a comedic act between the hosts.
Now about Kate.
Kate was in on the joke with me, you can ask her yourself.
She purposely said the name as ‘Socrates’ and I was meant to correct her to ‘Socrates’.
Henry acknowledged that viewers are entitled to their opinions, but he rejected claims of disrespect towards Scott.
I understand if you didn't enjoy the joke.
But let's stop saying I disrespected Kate.
I would never do that.
He added:
She was aware of the joke.
She deliberately pronounced the name that way, and I corrected her.
So please stop making up stories.
Scott later supported Henry's version, commenting on his post:
There was no disrespect.
Ultimately, Henry admitted that not everyone would appreciate his sense of humour but insisted he never intended to offend either Yamal or Scott.
