A millionaire CEO who went viral after stealing a tennis star’s hat meant for a young boy has issued a grovelling apology after briefly becoming “the most hated man in America.” Polish magnate Piotr Szczerek was caught on camera swiping a hat signed by U.S. Open star Kamil Majchrzak after he handed it to a child last week, prompting a flurry of online outrage. A number of hoax statements which purported to show the CEO doubling-down on the act also stoked further fury in the following days, until Szczerek finally set the record straight on Monday with a statement of his own. “Due to the situation that happened during Kamil Majchrzak’s match at the US Open, I would like to clearly apologize to the injured boy, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself, he said. “I have made a huge mistake.” Szczerek said that he didn’t see the child, known as Brock, and ”did something that looked like a deliberate collection of the child’s souvenir. This was not my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.” He has since returned the hat to the boy and apologized to his family.
NEW: Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak is looking for a young boy who had a hat snatched from him by a grown man at the US Open.
Majchrzak was seen trying to hand the boy his hat when a grown man took it and stashed it in a bag.
