Sometimes it takes just a few seconds of video to ignite outrage across the internet. That’s exactly what happened when Polish construction supply CEO Piotr Szczerek was caught on camera snatching tennis star Kamil Majchrzak’s hat away from a young boy during last week’s U.S. Open.
The clip spread like wildfire, and millions online blasted Szczerek as a grown man stealing a memento from a child. He quickly became a social media villain overnight.
Now, facing the backlash, Szczerek is offering an apology. “I would like to unequivocally apologize to the boy who was harmed, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself,” he wrote on Instagram. “I made a serious mistake.”
Szczerek claims it was all a misunderstanding. “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,” he explained. “It is a painful but necessary lesson in humility for me.”
He added that he did not realize he was taking the hat directly from a child. He also lamented that the years of charitable work he and his wife have done for children now feel overshadowed by a single viral moment. To make amends, he pledged, “Therefore, I will engage even more actively in initiatives supporting children and youth, as well as in actions against violence and hate. Believe that only through deeds can I rebuild the lost trust. Once again, I apologize to everyone I have let down.”
Meanwhile, the young boy who lost out on the cap didn’t go home empty-handed. Tennis star Kamil Majchrzak tracked him down afterward and delivered an entire bag of gifts, ensuring the memory of the U.S. Open remained a positive one.
There’s a lesson buried in all this, and it goes beyond one fan’s mistake. We live in an era where a few seconds of footage can ruin reputations, erase years of goodwill, and define a person permanently. Social media mobs rarely wait for facts or context—they simply attack. For families, parents, and communities trying to raise the next generation, it’s a reminder that real character is built over a lifetime, not in a viral clip. And it’s also a call to resist the quick-draw culture of outrage and remember the common-sense values of grace, humility, and accountability.
