Man who snatched hat from boy at U.S. Open apologizes for 'hurtful actions' [View all]

[LetMyPeopleVote]

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 board
https://www.democraticunderground.com/?com=view_post&forum=1002&pid=20599966
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.

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