Football supporters have criticized Thierry Henry for allegedly bullying Lamine Yamal during the Ballon d'Or ceremony. Yamal collected the Men's Young Talent of the Year trophy for the third time on Monday, before former Barcelona player Henry questioned him on stage.
Henry asked the teenager, "That's your third one, right? But is it the one that you really wanted tonight?" The audience laughed at the inquiry, and Yamal smiled in response.
Yet, several social media users quickly labeled Henry's behavior as bullying toward the 17-year-old. One user stated, "Yamal is 19, finishing second last year and 3rd this year and Henry just had to bully him infront of everyone." Another added, "That's poor from Thierry Henry. Nice of Lamine Yamal to stay calm."
Conversely, other supporters defended Henry, arguing his words were harmless. A commenter noted, "There's absolutely nothing wrong in what he said."
Yamal later secured third place in the men's overall standings, trailing runner-up Kylian Mbappe and winner Harry Kane.
In addition, critics accused Henry of making another uncomfortable remark toward co-host Kate Scott during the event. As they readied to present the Socrates Award, given for humanitarian efforts, Scott started talking before the former Arsenal star interrupted her.
Scott stated, "And we'll also hand out the Socrates award, which is..." Henry then joked, "What do you mean, Socrates? We don't have any philosophers here... it's Socrates," using an alternative pronunciation. To recover from the tense exchange, Scott answered, "Excuse my pronunciation everybody. Trust Thierry to get it right."
