Piotr Szczerek, the Polish CEO caught swiping an autographed hat away from a young boy at the US Open, has finally apologized for his actions.
Szczerek drew the ire of sports fans worldwide when video of him grabbing a hat belonging to tennis star Kamil Majchrzak away from a young boy began going viral. Majchrzak later met the boy, named Brock, in person on Saturday and presented him with a new signed hat and other memorabilia.
“Obviously, it was some kind of confusion,” Majchrzak said of the incident, confirming that Szczerek sponsors his tennis federation in Poland.
Majchrzak, the 76th-ranked player in the world, had just beaten ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov on Thursday and was signing autographs post-match when the matter occurred.
‘A painful but necessary lesson’
Szczerek, the founder and leader of the paving company Drogbruk, had avoided commenting on the controversy until this morning.
In a statement on Facebook originally written in Polish, Szczerek apologized for his actions and called the entire ordeal a “painful but necessary lesson in humility.”
“In connection with the situation that happened during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to unequivocally apologize to the injured boy, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself,” Szczerek wrote. “I have made a huge mistake.
“Emotionally, in the crowd cheering after the victory, I was convinced that the tennis player was passing his hat in my direction – for my sons who had asked for autographs earlier. The misconception caused me to pull out my hand.”
Szczerek also said he returned the hat to the boy and apologized to the youngster’s family.
“I hope I’ve at least partially repaired the damage that was done,” he added.
Setting the record straight on ‘statements’
Prior to today, there had been various “statements” or comments floating around on the internet from people purporting to be Szczerek or his wife.
None of them were authentic, which Szczerek cleared up in his Facebook address Monday.
“I also want to make it clear, neither myself, nor my wife, nor my sons have commented on this situation on social media as well as on any portal,” he wrote. “We have not used the services of any law firm in this regard. All alleged statements appearing on the web are not ours.”
At the end of his statement, Szczerek added that he had turned off comments on the post for the sake of his family.
What’s next for the ‘millionaire’ CEO?
After Szczerek was identified as the man in the video, commenters flooded his company’s social media and job site pages with angry words, denouncing the CEO and Drogbruk as a whole.
Moving forward, Szczerek said he will devote his time to helping repair the trust between himself and the general public.
“For years, together with my wife, I have been involved in helping children and young athletes, but this situation showed me that one moment of carelessness can undo years of work and support,” the millionaire executive wrote.
“Therefore, I will engage even more actively in initiatives supporting children and youth, as well as in actions against violence and hate. I believe that only through deeds can I rebuild the lost trust.”
