A Polish CEO has issued a public apology after being caught on camera grabbing a match-worn hat from a young fan during the U.S. Open — an incident that quickly went viral and sparked widespread backlash.
The man, identified as Piotr Szczerek, head of paving-stone company Drogbruk, was filmed on Thursday taking the cap of Polish tennis player Kamil Majchrzak moments after Majchrzak’s dramatic five-set upset over world No. 9 Karen Khachanov. The hat, intended for a young boy, was instead passed to Szczerek’s wife, who stuffed it into her bag as the child protested, “What are you doing?” The boy left the match without the souvenir or an autograph.
As the video spread online, Szczerek was quickly identified, and Drogbruk’s online pages were inundated with negative reviews. One commenter wrote: “If the company’s president so unscrupulously stole a child’s hat, I’d be afraid he’d steal from me too.”
On Monday, Szczerek released a statement acknowledging he had “made a serious mistake.”
“In the emotions of the moment, I believed the cap was being handed in my direction for my sons,” he explained. “That false assumption led me to reach instinctively. I now understand how it looked — as if I deliberately took a keepsake from a child. That was never my intention, but I still hurt the boy and let fans down. I have returned the cap and apologized to the family.”
Szczerek also denied rumors that he or his family were pursuing legal action against critics, stressing: “We have not commented publicly or used legal services in this matter. Any statements circulating online are false.” He called the experience “a painful but necessary lesson in humility.”
Meanwhile, Majchrzak — who was unaware of the incident at the time — took to Instagram to track down the boy, named Brock. On Saturday, he met with Brock and his family after a practice session, sharing photos and gifting them tennis gear. “Hello World,” he captioned, “together with Brock we wish you a great day!”
Although Majchrzak later had to retire from the tournament due to injury, the gesture helped restore a happy ending to a viral controversy.
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