CEO Apologizes for Viral Hat-Stealing Moment at the U.S. Open: 'Extremely Poor Judgment and Hurtful Actions' A Polish CEO has apologized for the caught-on-camera incident and said it was not his "intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan."
By Erin Davis
Key Takeaways
- A CEO went viral this weekend for snatching a game-worn hat away from a young boy after a tennis match.
- Piotr Szczerek, the CEO of a Polish paving company, said he thought the tennis player was handing him the memorabilia.
- Szczerek says he sent the hat back to the boy and that the fiasco is "a painful but necessary lesson in humility."
Over the weekend, a video posted on various social media platforms showed a child waiting for a signature from Kamil Majchrzak after his match at the U.S. Open on Thursday. The Polish tennis player takes off his hat and hands it, seemingly, to the boy, before an adult man next to him reaches in and snatches it away like a seagull at the beach.
Naturally, the video went mega-viral, and Internet sleuths quickly identified the culprit as Piotr Szczerek, the CEO of a Polish paving company. On Monday, Szczerek apologized for the incident "unequivocally" in a post on Facebook.
Try watching this without cringing pic.twitter.com/5uwmIAmOXN
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) August 29, 2025
"In connection with the incident that occurred during Kamil Majchrzak match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologize to the young boy, his family, all the fans, and the player himself," the post begins. "I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions. It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan."
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Szczerek wrote that he was "caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory" and during the excitement, he "believed Majchrzak was handing a hat to me to give to my sons, who had previously asked for autographs."
"I apologize to everyone I let down," Szczerek said.
Szczerek says he sent the hat back to the boy and noted the fiasco is "a painful but necessary lesson in humility."
After all the attention, the boy who missed out on the hat got something even better — he met with Majchrzak and walked away with even more swag.
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