Tennis followers have been appalled over the weekend at a second of horrible, unsportsmanlike conduct on the US Open… within the stands.
After star participant Kamil Majchrzak‘s win on Thursday, he signed some memorabilia for followers — and to 1 cute child he supplied his signed hat. However in a disgusting video that’s gone viral, a person standing subsequent to him noticed Majchrzak distracted… and snatched the hat earlier than the child may get it! He then took it over to his spouse to have fun because the younger boy pleaded for it again. Terrible.
Clearly that is one thing we’ve seen earlier than. Movies of adults taking baseballs from kids have been circulating the online since we have been all utilizing Flash Participant. However the web is a little more refined now — particularly relating to discovering folks…
So the person within the video was shortly recognized as Polish millionaire Piotr Szczerek, the CEO of a paving firm referred to as Drogbruk. A freakin’ millionaire. Stealing from a child. Gross!
As soon as the web had a goal, nonetheless, they have been capable of direct the backlash appropriately. They went after the man the place it damage — his enterprise. Detrimental feedback flooded Drogbruk’s GoWork profile, and the scores plummeted to 1.4 stars out of 5 at one level, per Dexerto. Rattling!
Effectively, Piotr reportedly responded. In a since deleted touch upon the Polish web site, allegedly from his account, it was reported he wrote:
“The current incident on the tennis match has brought on a disproportionate on-line uproar. It’s all in regards to the well-known hat, after all. Sure, I took it. Sure, I did it shortly. However as I’ve at all times stated, life is first come, first served.”
Defending it? With that CEO mentality BS? Ick! Additionally, wasn’t the hat actually served FIRST to the child when the tennis professional supplied it to the kid?
It didn’t get higher:
“I perceive that some folks could not prefer it, however please, let’s not make a worldwide scandal out of the hat. It’s only a hat. When you have been quicker, you’d have it.”
There was additionally a warning for everybody to cease being imply, or attorneys would get entangled:
“Relating to on-line hate, I remind you that insulting a public determine is topic to authorized legal responsibility. All offensive feedback, slander, and insinuations can be analyzed for the opportunity of taking the matter to courtroom.”
Lastly, the assertion ended with:
“In the long run, chin up, hats off, much less venom, extra sportsmanship.”
GROSS!!!
Innerestingly, issues modified after a pair days of intense on-line stress! On Monday, Piotr denied writing that deleted remark, taking to his Fb with a vastly totally different tone. This time he tried to color an image of a caring father who obtained confused, saying he’d mistakenly thought “the tennis participant was handing his cap to me” — for his sons, who “earlier requested for autographs.”
“That mistaken perception made me attain out instinctively. As we speak I do know I did one thing that regarded like intentionally taking a memento from a toddler. That was not my intention, nevertheless it doesn’t change the truth that I damage the boy and upset the followers. The cap has been handed to the boy, and I’ve apologized to the household. I hope this has at the very least partially repaired the harm finished.”
He additionally went into his and his spouse’s charitable historical past. He then punctuated all of it by saying he was double down on these efforts:
“This can be a painful however mandatory lesson in humility for me. Subsequently, I can be much more energetic in initiatives that assist kids and youth and in efforts in opposition to violence and hate. I consider that solely by actions can I rebuild the belief I’ve misplaced. I apologize to everybody I let down.”
Uh huh. Powerful to show whether or not he wrote the preliminary assertion. However all of us noticed his actions on video. And that first assertion matches the video much more than the following apology. We’re guessing it’s too little, too late to assist Piotr’s popularity. However hey, it may have been worse! He may have been on the Open along with his head of HR as an alternative of his spouse! Simply sayin’… CEOs be wildin’ currently.
The joyful ending to the story? Kamil Majchrzak heard about all this and reached out to the child, whose identify is Brock. He personally met with him to get him a brand new autographed hat!
Effectively, that’s good!
What do YOU consider the backlash to Szczerek and his enterprise??
[Image via ESPN/ABC News/YouTube.]
