Thierry Henry breaks his silence on Lamine Yamal and Kate Scott after Ballon d’Or backlash
The former France star says his jokes were never meant to disrespect either of them
Thierry Henry has responded to criticism of his comments at Monday’s Ballon d’Or ceremony, where he co-hosted with Kate Scott . In a video shared after the event, he addressed two moments that drew attention: his question to Lamine Yamal and his exchange with Scott while introducing the Socrates Award.
The first moment came after Yamal won the Kopa Trophy for the third consecutive year. Henry asked whether it was the award the Barcelona star really wanted, a reference to the Ballon d’Or, which Yamal did not win. Some viewers called the question disrespectful and accused Henry of embarrassing the young player; others saw it as a joke.
Henry says he was joking with Yamal
Thierry Henry explained that he asked because it was Yamal’s third time winning the Kopa Trophy and the main award was still to come. He said he understands if people did not like the joke, but stressed that he is a fan of Yamal and loves watching him play. He even described the Barcelona star as one of the players he would pay to watch.
Thierry had praised Yamal’s soccer intelligence before the ceremony, too. Earlier this year, he recalled watching the teenager slow down a Spain counterattack against France in the Euro 2024 semifinals, even though he had a chance to keep driving forward. For Henry, that decision showed how well Yamal understood what his team needed in the moment.
Henry says Kate Scott was in on the joke
The second criticism followed Henry’s exchange with Scott over the Socrates Award, named for the late Brazilian soccer star. Henry joked about the name’s connection to the Greek philosopher and corrected Scott’s pronunciation.
Some viewers thought his response was rude. Andrew Downie, a writer who has written a book about Socrates, also said Scott had pronounced the name correctly.
In his video, Henry said Scott was in on the joke and had played along intentionally. He acknowledged that people might not have found it funny, then asked them to stop calling it disrespectful. “I will never do that,” he said, insisting he would not deliberately disrespect Scott or Yamal.
Thierry Henry is one of France’s greatest soccer players. He won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000 with France, starred for Arsenal and Barcelona, and scored a record 228 goals for the London club.
After retiring, he moved into coaching and led France’s Olympic team to a silver medal at the 2024 Paris Games.
Thierry now works as a soccer analyst for CBS Sports, where he regularly breaks down the Champions League alongside Kate Scott, Jamie Carragher and Micah Richards.
His praise of Yamal comes from that vantage point and from years of watching the young Barcelona star grow into one of the game’s biggest names.
