CEO that snatched a hat from a child at the US open reponds: I'll sue anyone that insults me.

[Swede]

That's how its done CEOs.

[Deep State Witch]

1. He'd Make A Good Republican

He'd make a good Republican if he was in America. He's probably one of those Polish right-wingers.

[Initech]

16. He probably voted for the fascist asshole that won the Poland elections recently.

[aocommunalpunch]

21. He'd make a good obituary.

What absolute trash.

[BoRaGard]

39. True. These are classic "republicon family values"

[BigMin28]

2. Loser

nt

[sinkingfeeling]

3. Might be illegal to insult a public figure in Poland, but not here ... yet.

[tavernier]

54. Oh yeah?

All our networks seem to be buckling…

[Hope22]

4. Giant baby says what?

Oh god I hope that isn’t an insult!

[buzzycrumbhunger]

5. C'mon Karma!

What a POS. 🤨

[JohnnyRingo]

6. He assume we would have done the same thing if we were there.

Does that describe a textbook sociopath or what? This follows Ayn Rand's philosophy that if you rob someone it's their fault for allowing you to do it.
Kids should avoid his house on trick or treat. He might trick them out of their candy.

[Diraven]

7. He was just teaching that child a valuable lesson:

Rich entitled pricks are assholes.

[Jacson6]

8. The rich have always taken from the poor.

Always have and always will.

From the Movie Platoon.

[Swede]

9. King was a philospher all right.

nt

[ret5hd]

10. i'll take that "legal liability" challenge:

Dear Piotr Czczerek,

you have the looks and empathy of a banana slug, which also happens to resemble your slimy disease infected cock.

Eagerly awaiting your future correspondence,
ret5hd

[mwmisses4289]

55. That's an insult to banana slugs!

[stumpysbear]

11. I think there's plenty of evidence to call you an asshole, sir.

[JI7]

12. So the kid was not his son ?

[spooky3]

30. No. He snatched the hat right out of the child's hands.

Fortunately, the tennis player, who didn’t see it happen, posted a request for help in locating the child. It was successful, and the player gave a signed hat and other merchandise to the child and his family.

[mwmisses4289]

57. I haven't seen the clip. He snatched it out of the child's hands?

But he is claiming he grabbed it before the child got it.
Wonder if his company will fire him using the standard this does not represent our values excuse.

[ForgedCrank]

61. It was iffy

on who got to it first I think
However, that doesn't excuse it. The hat was very obviously meant for the kid and the guy snatched it, taking advantage of the situation at the expense of the kid and the good faith effort of the player (who also wasn't paying attention with all that was going on around him).
I see this crap all the time at the ballpark. The girls with the t-shirts and novelty giveaways try to target tossing stuff to the kids and there is always a jackass snatching it before the kids, who are much shorter, can get to it. It's enough to make your blood boil

[eShirl]

13. shameless thief

[Richard_GB]

14. I am not sure

How effective my boycott of a Polish paving company will be.

[Ping Tung]

15. " I'll sue anyone that insults me" identifies him as a loyal Trumphead.

[Renew Deal]

17. Piotr Szczerek:

[dalton99a]

18. His wife's comment

(translated)

[sakabatou]

19. Both these two are pieces of entitled shit.

[Renew Deal]

20. She's right. The lesson is that there are terrible people in this world

And sometimes two of these terrible people find each other and get married.

[fishwax]

51. this statement, like the original attributed to the husband, is almost certainly fake

[niyad]

53. Based on what evidence?

[fishwax]

58. based on the fact that the "original" source is an anonymous website

They supposedly were posted on gowork.pl, an anonymous forum that anyone can join with any username they wish. And there were no apparent posts from those users prior to the alleged statements ... statements which, incidentally, seem calculated to foment public outrage. So I suppose it's theoretically possible that the CEO of a Polish company specializing, it seems, in construction materials chose, as his initial way of addressing the controversy, to post an obviously provocative message on an anonymous forum that he'd never posted on before, but the odds of that are ... very, very small.

The alleged response of the CEO read as very obvious satire to me. I wasn't surprised to see it spread rapidly across reddit (where I first encountered it), but in years past there would have been at least a little skepticism about it here at DU.

[niyad]

60. Thank you. I am not familiar with that website. His action, however,

was caught on video. Given behaviour like that on video, one would not be surprised to see that sort of thing in print. He has already shown that he is a disgusting prick.

[Conjuay]

64. Hey, "lady"

Fuck you and your pig of a husband.
You entitled POS.
BTW,
What does all that straw in the shoe gibberish even mean?

[Brainfodder]

71. (translated)

[Maru Kitteh]

22. The corporate class is "feeling their oats"

as my grandmother would say. They need taken down a few pegs, collectively.

[Bev54]

23. He is just begging to be insulted, what a creep.

[2MuchNoise]

24. Hey, Piotr Czczerek, YOU'RE A DICK!

[Paladin]

25. What's this fuckhead looking for? Dinner at the White House? (nt)

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

26. Piotr Czczerek, you are lower than whale shit

and that's at the bottom or the ocean.

Plus this is America. We have freedom of speech.

[PatSeg]

27. "It's just a hat"???

If it is such little significance to him, then why not just give the kid the hat?

"Less venom, more sportsmanship"? So what is HIS definition of sportsmanship? Stealing from kids? What a creep.

[Ponietz]

28. Can't get out of a hole that deep

[LetMyPeopleVote]

29. Polish millionaire CEO who snatched a hat meant for a child on live TV at the US Open speaks out.

This asshole needs to try to defend his actions in court

Link to tweet

Polish millionaire CEO who snatched a hat meant for a child on live TV at the US Open speaks out.

“Yes, I took it. Yes, I did it quickly. But as I’ve always said, life is first come, first served… If you were faster, you would have it… I remind you that insulting a public figure is subject to legal liability. All offensive comments, slander, and insinuations will be analyzed for the possibility of taking the matter to court.”

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. The Tennis Player reached out and found the young boy whose hat was stolen by this asshole

This tennis player has a great deal of class unlike the asshole who stole the hat

Link to tweet

[spooky3]

32. Those of us who deleted our X accounts can't view tweets. Here's a YouTube vid

https://youtube.com/shorts/JnwaUaVbw88?feature=shared

[LetMyPeopleVote]

37. Here are a couple of blueskye posts

US Open hat snatcher identified as Polish CEO - as tennis star Kamil Majchrzak meets with boy

— Breaking News (@eastwestnews.bsky.social) 2025-08-30T23:36:18.116Z

Kamil Majchrzak meeting the young boy who had the hat taken from him the other day at the US Open.

A happy ending… this is what it’s all about.

Protect this man at all costs. 🥹

— The Tennis Letter (@thetennisletter.bsky.social) 2025-08-30T17:17:57.038Z

[spooky3]

38. Thanks! On Threads, comments (including from Poland) are

Destroying the bully.

[róisín_dubh]

45. And Majchrzak is Polish himself.

Arsehole CEO owned by his much more gracious and humane countryman.

[Ritabert]

33. If I were buying paving stones in Poland

I'd look elsewhere.

[regnaD kciN]

43. I don't need paving stones...

…but that guy needs a headstone.

[niyad]

56. EXACTLY!

[Oeditpus Rex]

35. Hey, Mr Unpronounceable

You're nine kinds of assratchet.

So sue me.

[marble falls]

36. Sue me, you nutless coward of a theif. I bet you regret the kid had no candy to snatch up, you TACO wanna be.

[flvegan]

40. This is how you find yourself a spot on the next South Park.

I wonder if he likes fish sticks.

[raccoon]

41. I wish Mike Tyson had been there. But I just googled and he's dead. Well, you follow my general idea.

[Renew Deal]

47. Tyson is not dead

[raccoon]

49. I stand corrected.

News of boxer Mike Tyson’s death spread quickly earlier this week causing concern among fans across the world. However the August 2025 report has now been confirmed as a complete hoax and just the latest in a string of fake celebrity death reports. Thankfully, the Former heavyweight champion of the world is alive and well.

https://en.mediamass.net/people/mike-tyson/deathhoax.html#google_vignette

[MagickMuffin]

42. So, just because your a CEO does not make one a public figure

I never heard of this a**hole until today. So, I guess he’s not that much of a “public figure” but everyone else like me who’s never heard of him know him as a thieving criminal of stealing from a child.

I noticed with these millionaires a**holes is they love to sue if you say anything negative about them. Poor baby snowflakes, perhaps quit being a**holes and you wouldn’t have to waste so much money on wanting love and acceptance, no one will love you until you change your behavior.

[GoodRaisin]

44. Obviously a man full of greed.

Showing the world his ass.

[Brainfodder]

46. Pompous jerkoff response, WHAT A SHOCKER!

[Passages]

48. " Yes, I took it. Yes, I did it quickly........."

From a kid.

"let them eat cake"...............that is quite a rival, I think.

[fishwax]

50. this statement is almost certainly fake

It's been posted everywhere now, but I saw it first on reddit, without any attribution whatsoever, and it's just spread from there. Supposedly it was originally posted on a polish website gowork.pl, and indeed there are statements (in Polish) from a user with the username "Piotr Szczerek" that include the text translated here. But anybody can sign up for gowork with any name they want, and there is apparently no evidence of this user prior to the controversy. So the idea that this CEO chose to sign up for an anonymous forum under his own name to offer his first response to the situation (let alone doing so in such an obviously provocative way) is absurd beyond all credibility.

[mwmisses4289]

62. Ok, so then is the guy in video actually the ceo of a company,

or just some random dude who snatched the hat out of the kids hand?

[fishwax]

65. yes, he apparently owns or runs a company in Poland

[muriel_volestrangler]

66. He's a CEO, but what's he's said today is far more apologetic

CEO who snatched boy's hat at US Open says he made 'huge mistake'

Piotr Szczerek, a Polish chief executive of a paving firm, said he was "convinced" tennis star Kamil Majchrzak had been "passing his hat in my direction".

"I know I did something that seemed like consciously collecting a memento from a child," he wrote in a statement. "This wasn't my intention, but it doesn't change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans."
...
The 50-year-old wrote on social media on Monday: "I would like to unequivocally apologise to the injured boy, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself."

He added that he had given the hat back to the boy, and hoped that it had "at least partially repaired the damage that was done".

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/ce93klk0jpzo

It's possible that someone told him "for fuck's sake, grow up and apologise, or your business will go under", but it's also possible the first "statement" wasn't really him.

[mwmisses4289]

67. Ok, thanks.

[JustAnotherGen]

52. I triple, double dog dare

This little asshole to sue me for attacking me on Threads. Bring it beyotch.

[Baitball Blogger]

59. He still doesn't get it.

[ZDU]

63. pity if he fell dead

tsk tsk tsk

[YepYep]

68. Ladies and Gentlemen, the next President of the USA!

A perfect metaphor for MAGA and the ultra rich. Steal from a child, defend it as the strongest and more privileged will always win, and threaten to sue if you speak negatively about it.

[Rebl2]

69. He should have

Been arrested or at least thrown out of the match and never allowed to come back.

[Tribetime]

70. I can't believe this is not the Onion

Who does that

[LetMyPeopleVote]

72. His company lost 15% of it's value for "it's just a hat"

Link to tweet

[republianmushroom]

73. If it was, as you say, "just a hat", why did you take it ?

Believe you are lying to cover yourself, myself.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

74. Man who snatched hat from boy at U.S. Open apologizes for 'hurtful actions'

I saw some place the stock price for this asshole's company declined. This apology is late and not that believable

Link to tweet

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2025/09/01/us-open-hat-stolen-polish-ceo-apology/

A Polish businessman issued an apology Monday after taking a hat that a player at the U.S. Open appeared to be trying to give to a child.

“I take full responsibility for my extremely poor judgment and hurtful actions,” Piotr Szczerek said in a statement posted to social media channels for the paving company he reportedly founded. “It was never my intent to steal away a prized memento from the young fan. I became caught up in the heat of the moment and the joy of the victory.”

The incident occurred Thursday after Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak defeated ninth-seeded Karen Khachanov during second-round play. Video showed Majchrzak, positioned directly in front of a young boy in the stands, signing autographs for fans and taking off his hat. Majchrzak then turned to sign some more items presented by other fans as he held the hat in front of him, in the direction of the boy, when a man grabbed the hat.

I saw the statements made by this asshole and posted on this thread. This asshole is claiming that these statements were not made by him

Szczerek and his wife were depicted as major tennis enthusiasts in a 2021 profile published by a Polish magazine focused on the sport. On Saturday, comments posted on a Polish job-review website that were attributed to Szczerek caused a furor online for their disparaging tone toward the boy. The comments, which have since been removed, were not verified to have come from Szczerek.

In his statement Monday, Szczerek said that “neither I nor my wife nor my sons commented on this situation on social media or on any other platform. … All statements appearing online accredited to us were false and were not authored by us or our representatives.”

I still believe that this asshole was responsible for his original statements and is only apologizing because his company is getting hammered by his conduct.

I was please that the tennis pro reached out and gave the young boy a new autographed hat.

Majchrzak’s U.S. Open run ended Sunday when he was forced to retire during the first set of a match against Leandro Riedi with what the Pole, ranked 76th on the ATP Tour, described as a torn intercostal muscle.

Link to tweet