Red Sox CEO Responds to John Henry's Surprising Social Media Activity

Professional sports owners always have fascinating relationships with their fan bases, and Boston Red Sox principal owner John Henry is no different.

Henry, who bought the team in 2002, has overseen an unprecedented run of success. But there's been a recent period of unrest stemming from his perceived hands-off management style, which coincided with a lull in the club's success after its most recent championship in 2018.

Henry had also gone dark on social media, which made it a surprise to all when on Sunday, the owner clapped back at Boston Globe columnist Dan Shaughnessy on X with just one word.

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Henry's one-word social response prompts CEO's laughter

Historic
— John W. Henry (@John_W_Henry) March 23, 2026

Shaughnessy retracted a criticism of NESN, the Red Sox's team-owned broadcast partner, and was hit with a barb from Henry in the replies: "Historic." It was Henry's first post on the X platform since it was still called "Twitter" in June of 2021.

On Tuesday's episode of the "Fenway Rundown" podcast, Red Sox chief executive officer Sam Kennedy gave his take on Henry's comment, while also insisting that many of the fan base's popularly held opinions about the owner were misconceptions.

“Look, it’s funny. We all sort of laugh internally. John is so active, so involved. We talk every day, multiple times a day. He and (Craig Breslow) talk, text WhatsApp multiple times a day,” Kennedy told hosts Chris Cotillo and Sean McAdam.

“John and (his wife) Linda relatively recently did a fireside chat with all of our employees at a sort of kind of a town hall setting. And so very accessible and very much leading our organization. The choice to not engage day to day with members of the media is a choice that has served John well because it’s just something that he leaves to others."

Henry's media involvement aside (he still has given just two interviews in the last six years), the question of commitment is unlikely to die down when Fenway Sports Group still owns Liverpool F.C., Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing, Boston Common Golf, and has its hands in tons of other ventures.

But teams don't care about hearing the owner speak unless it's at a championship parade, and Henry can also win back more and more of the fans if the payroll keeps going up year over year.