First Woman Awarded Ballon d’Or Gets Asked If She Knows How To ‘Twerk’ On Stage
“Do you know how to twerk?” the event’s host asked to which the athlete responded shortly: “No.”
23-year-old Ada Hegerberg claimed her place in history when she became the first woman to win the Ballon d’Or award, the top honour in the world of soccer. The award has only been awarded to men for the past 60 years or so.
The event was held at the Grand Palais in Paris. However, as Hegerberg accepted the honour and gave a heartfelt speech on women, the power of dreams and why it is so important for young girls to believe in themselves, the Norwegian athlete found herself asked an idiotic, sexist and inappropriate question by the event’s host, French disc jockey Martin Solveig.
#AdaHegerberg: “this is a big step for women’s football. Young girls: believe in yourselves.”#DJMartinSolveig: yeah… but do you even twerk?
*eternal facepalm* pic.twitter.com/K3MDbUu4Of
— Val Cuellar (@valkyrjan23) December 5, 2018
“Do you know how to twerk?” Solveig asked to which the athlete responded shortly: “No.”
Martin Solveig : enfin un ballon d’or féminin, il était temps
2 minutes later mdr :#BallonDor pic.twitter.com/W6IJ6286nR— nul. (@InsafOo) December 3, 2018
The moment was captured on video and the quickly went viral on social media with many slamming Solveig’s behaviour. The DJ released a statement saying it was all meant in good fun and that he was shocked at the online reactions. He also blamed his poor English skills and his lack of understanding of English culture. Finally, he released another statement saying that the joke was in poor taste.
Sincere apologies to the one I may have offended. My point was : I don’t invite women to twerk but dance on a Sinatra song. Watch the full sequence People who have followed me for 20 years know how respectful I am especially with women pic.twitter.com/pnZX8qvl4R
— Martin Solveig (@martinsolveig) December 3, 2018
I explained to @AdaStolsmo the buzz and she told me she understood it was a joke. Nevertheless my apologies to anyone who may have been offended. Most importantly congratulations to Ada pic.twitter.com/DATdg0TfQk
— Martin Solveig (@martinsolveig) December 3, 2018
Ballon d’Or winner @AdaStolsmo says she wasn’t upset when French DJ Martin Solveig asked her if she could twerk at the award ceremony in Paris. Apologies for my framing at the beginning pic.twitter.com/LFzEoCccRo
— John Leicester (@johnleicester) December 3, 2018
Andy Murray on women’s Ballon d’Or winner Ada Hegerberg being asked to twerk on stage tonight… pic.twitter.com/XWhchKnWvW
— Stuart Fraser (@stu_fraser) December 3, 2018