CEO Caught On Camera Snatching Signed Hat From Child At US Open – And His Alleged First Statement Is HORRIBLE! – Perez Hilton

Tennis fans were appalled over the weekend at a moment of horrible, unsportsmanlike conduct at the US Open… in the stands.

After star player Kamil Majchrzak‘s win on Thursday, he signed some memorabilia for fans — and to one cute kid he offered his signed hat. But in a disgusting video that’s gone viral, a man standing next to him saw Majchrzak distracted… and snatched the hat before the kid could get it! He then took it over to his wife to celebrate as the young boy pleaded for it back. Awful.

Obviously this is something we’ve seen before. Videos of adults taking baseballs from children have been circulating the net since we were all using Flash Player. But the internet is a bit more sophisticated now — especially when it comes to finding people…

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So the man in the video was quickly identified as Polish millionaire Piotr Szczerek, the CEO of a paving company called Drogbruk. A freakin’ millionaire. Stealing from a kid. Gross!

Once the internet had a target, however, they were able to direct the backlash appropriately. They went after the guy where it hurt — his business. Negative comments flooded Drogbruk’s GoWork profile, and the ratings plummeted to 1.4 stars out of 5 at one point, per Dexerto. Damn!

Well, Piotr reportedly responded. In a since deleted comment on the Polish site, allegedly from his account, it was reported he wrote:

“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.”

Defending it? With that CEO mentality BS? Ick! Also, wasn’t the hat literally served FIRST to the kid when the tennis pro offered it to the child?

It didn’t get better:

“I understand that some people may not like it, but please, let’s not make a global scandal out of the hat. It’s just a hat. If you were faster, you would have it.”

There was also a warning for everyone to stop being mean, or lawyers would get involved:

“Regarding online hate, 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.”

Finally, the statement ended with:

“In the end, chin up, hats off, less venom, more sportsmanship.”

GROSS!!!

Innerestingly, things changed after a couple days of intense online pressure! On Monday, Piotr denied writing that deleted comment, taking to his Facebook with a vastly different tone. This time he tried to paint a picture of a caring father who got confused, saying he’d mistakenly thought “the tennis player was handing his cap to me” — for his sons, who “earlier asked for autographs.”

“That mistaken belief made me reach out instinctively. Today I know I did something that looked like deliberately taking a souvenir from a child. That was not my intention, but it does not change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans. The cap has been handed to the boy, and I have apologized to the family. I hope this has at least partially repaired the damage done.”

He also went into his and his wife’s charitable history. He then punctuated it all by saying he was double down on those efforts:

“This is a painful but necessary lesson in humility for me. Therefore, I will be even more active in initiatives that support children and youth and in efforts against violence and hate. I believe that only through actions can I rebuild the trust I have lost. I apologize to everyone I let down.”

Uh huh. Tough to prove whether he wrote the initial statement. But we all saw his actions on video. And that first statement matches the video a lot more than the subsequent apology. We’re guessing it’s too little, too late to help Piotr’s reputation. But hey, it could have been worse! He could have been at the Open with his head of HR instead of his wife! Just sayin’… CEOs be wildin’ lately.

The happy ending to the story? Kamil Majchrzak heard about all this and reached out to the kid, whose name is Brock. He personally met with him to get him a new autographed hat!

Well, that’s nice!

What do YOU think of the backlash to Szczerek and his business??

[Image via ESPN/ABC News/YouTube.]