Thierry Henry shares his thoughts on the Lamine Yamal joke at the Ballon d’Or, and Kate Scott reacts too
Thierry Henry recently spoke up to clear the air about a joke he made to Lamine Yamal after he won the Kopa Trophy at the Ballon d’Or ceremony.
Yamal won the Kopa Trophy—which goes to the world’s best young player—for the third year in a row during the event at the London Palladium on Monday night. When he dedicated his award to his Barcelona teammate Pau Cubarsi, saying Cubarsi should have won instead, Henry looked surprised.
Just before that, Henry jokingly asked Yamal if the Kopa Trophy was “the one he really wanted,” hinting at Yamal’s hopes of winning the main Ballon d’Or, which Harry Kane actually won later that night. Yamal laughed and said, “[I want] all of them!”
In a video on his official Instagram, Henry explained: “I’ve seen a lot of talk about the Ballon d’Or night, so I want to clear things up. People got excited about nothing. For Lamine Yamal, I wasn’t checking his ego. Since it was his third time winning the trophy, I just asked if that was the one he really wanted. I’m a big fan of Lamine Yamal and wasn’t trying to put him down. If you didn’t like the joke, I get it, but please don’t be harsh. He’s one of the players I would pay to watch. I love him. I was just asking because I knew the real prize was coming next. Sadly, he didn’t win it, but he’s an amazing player I enjoy watching.”
Henry also talked about a joke he made with co-host Kate Scott, where he corrected her pronunciation of “Socrates,” the Brazilian legend who has a humanitarian award named after him at the Ballon d’Or.
He said, “Kate was in on the joke. You can even ask her. She did it on purpose to say ‘Socrates’ differently, and I corrected her pronunciation. If you didn’t like the joke, I understand, but please don’t say I disrespected Kate. I would never do that. She was part of the joke and even said it on purpose. So please stop making up stories.”
Lastly, Henry mentioned a fun moment with Harry Kane. “If you watch our show on CBS, you’ll know that after the Bayern Munich vs. Arsenal game, Kane called me out for supporting Kylian Mbappe. I told him I’m French, so I’ll back Mbappe, my fellow countryman. But I also told Kane, ‘You are a worthy winner. You show that hard work is a talent.’ I’ve been calling him ‘Sir Harry Kane’ since the World Cup.”
He ended by saying, “So to everyone out there—relax. I love Harry Kane, I love Lamine Yamal, and I didn’t disrespect Kate. She was with me on the joke. Have a great night, and see you soon!”