Hat Theft, Kiss Cams, and the Perils of Being a CEO in Public

First came Coldplay’s kiss cam. Now it’s a Polish CEO at the US Open, seen on video yanking Kamil Majchrzak’s cap from a boy in the stands. The internet, predictably, is having a field day.

Executives are learning that what happens in the crowd doesn’t stay in the crowd when cameras are everywhere. Whether it’s a Jumbotron at a concert or a television broadcast at Flushing Meadows, internet sleuths are quick to discover the identities of business leaders behaving badly. Overnight, relatively private people can be vaulted from obscurity to viral infamy.

A video from Thursday appears to show Piotr Szczerek, head of the Polish paving firm Drogbruk, snatching a hat that tennis star Majchrzak was seemingly handing to a young fan. Unaware, Majchrzak continued signing autographs, but the camera stayed on a visibly delighted Szczerek and the boy.

The fallout was swift: headlines piled up, critics piled on, and one X post of the clip notched 19 million views as of writing.

Business Insider couldn’t independently verify Szczerek’s identity, but a statement posted Monday to his company’s Instagram account addresses the kerfuffle head-on. Szczerek’s statement said that he was “convinced” Majchrzak had been passing the hat in his direction and that he had made a “huge mistake.”

“I know I did something that seemed like consciously collecting a memento from a child,” he wrote. “This wasn’t my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans.”

Szczerek turned off comments on the post, citing concern for his family. Szczerek and his representatives didn’t respond to Business Insider’s messages seeking comment.

“The cap has been handed over to the boy, and apologies have been made to the family,” his statement said. “I hope that at least in part I have repaired the harm caused.”

The uproar over Szczerek’s “hat theft” echoed another viral moment involving a CEO just months earlier.

At a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts, the stadium’s kiss cam showed Astronomer CEO Andy Byron with his arms wrapped around the company’s head of people, Kristin Cabot. The clip was projected across Gillette Stadium before making the rounds online, and Byron tendered his resignation.

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Together, these moments underline how quickly the boundaries between private individuals and public spectacle collapse when the camera pans their way.

A clip can ricochet across platforms in minutes, leaving business leaders to grapple with exposure they never signed up for. Privacy is no longer a realistic expectation, said Mike Fahey, who runs the Boston public relations firm Fahey Communications.

“If you’re in public, you can expect you’re being recorded,” Fahey said.

Even though both incidents unfolded in stadiums — the US Open sold a record one million tickets this year — media strategists warn that executives should be just as cautious in far less conspicuous settings. A crowded restaurant, a youth soccer game, or an airport security line can turn into a stage when everyone around them has a pro camera in hand.

All it takes is one misstep, a sharp-eyed bystander, and a viral upload for a private lapse to spiral into a very public disgrace. That’s why Ryan McCormick, cofounder of the New York public relations firm Goldman McCormick, has this advice for clients: Don’t be a jerk.

“When you’re in front of thousands of other people, don’t berate the waitress. If you’re ever at a game, and you catch the ball, pass it to a kid,” McCormick said.

“If he had taken that hat and given it to the kid,” he continued, “it would have been a completely different story.”