A clip of a man snatching stealing a hat meant for a child from tennis player Kamil Majchrzak went viral, and it’s resulted in instant karma for the man identified as Polish CEO Piotr Szczerek.
Some sports fans are more passionate than others when it comes to getting their hands on memorabilia from big games like matches at the US Open, but most adults wouldn’t stoop to taking something meant to be given to a child by one of their favorite players.
However, one man did just that, and it was caught on camera for the world to see. Polish millionaire and CEO Piotr Szczerek snatched a hat that was meant for a child right out from under him. This resulted in a massive uproar to try and get that hat to the child it was meant for.
Not only did the young boy get to meet Majchrzak as a result of this whole debacle, but the CEO who snatched the hat is getting his business review bombed on Polish forums.
Tennis hat thief identified as Polish CEO Piotr Czczerek
The clip went viral all over social media, with the man now identified as Czczerek grabbing the hat right out of Majchrzak’s hand when it was clearly meant for the child rather than him.
Brock, the kid who had the hat stolen, could be seen pleading with Majchrzak, trying to get his attention to no avail. Once people saw what happened, the clip went viral and garnered tens of millions of views.
Fortunately, this story does have a happy ending. Majchrzak saw what happened and reached out to the child directly, giving him an autographed hat and meeting him personally.
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The tennis star posted the meeting on his Instagram story, giving Brock his time in the spotlight and showing that he finally got the hat to the person it was intended for. Majchrzak has since explained he didn’t even know Brock didn’t get the hat and wanted to immediately make things right when he learned of the snatching.
Kamil MajchrzakAs for Piotr Szczerek, he’s the millionaire CEO of a paving company in Poland called Drogbruk. After being called out for it, he appeared to defend himself in a since-deleted post on Poland’s GoWork forum, saying the following:
“The recent incident at the tennis match has caused a disproportionate online uproar. It’s all about the famous hat, of course. Yes, I took it. Yes, I did it quickly. But as I’ve always said, life is first come, first served,” he claimed.
“In the end, chin up, hats off, less venom, more sportsmanship.”
Hundreds of comments from people on the forum were calling him out, claiming the CEO is a “thief”, “jerk”, and “embarrassing” among other more colorful language. All of his social media has since been deleted.
The ratings for Drogbruk on Gowork have fallen to 1.4 stars out of 5 at the time of writing. The company’s been bombarded with thousands of negative reviews in the hours since Szczerek’s identity was revealed.
On September 1, Szczerek addressed the controversy on social media and denied writing the first message that was pinned on the forum at one point.
“Today I know that what I did looked like deliberately taking a souvenir from a child. That was not my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans,” he said, insisting that he believed Majchrzak was handing him the cap for his sons and that he had made a “serious mistake.”
X/Instagram“One careless moment can ruin years of work and support. I will continue to actively participate in initiatives supporting children and youth, and in actions against violence and hate. I believe that only through actions can lost trust be rebuilt,” he added.
He’s not the first CEO to find himself marred in controversy due to their behavior in an audience. In July, the CEO of tech company Astronomer was caught in an alleged affair with the company’s head of HR, while attending a Coldplay concert together, making headlines worldwide.
In June, the chairman of Sona Comstar, Sunjay Kapur, an Indian billionaire, died after swallowing a bee while attending a polo event.