The Polish CEO of Drogbruk made a statement after the backlash.
Piotr Szczerek has «unequivocally» apologized to the child at the center of the US Open hat-snatching controversy, and he said the cap had now been returned to the young boy.
Szczerek, millionaire CEO of the Polish paving company Drogbruk, was caught on video taking a hat that had been handed towards a child by Polish tennis star Kamil Majchrzak, who had just defeated Russia’s Karen Khachanov in the second round of the competition.
The footage sparked a huge online backlash against Szczerek.
«I made a serious mistake», the businessman wrote in a statement shared to his social media page, originally in Polish.
«In the emotions, in the crowd’s joy after the victory, I was convinced that the tennis player was handing the cap in my direction–for my sons, who had earlier asked for autographs. This false assumption made me reach out instinctively.
«Today I know that what I did looked like deliberately taking a keepsake from a child.
