After a video of him snatching a hat from a child at the U.S. Open went viral and ignited widespread outrage, Polish businessman Piotr Szczerek publicly apologized for his actions.

Szczerek, head of the paving company Drogbruk, shared his regrets on the company’s official Instagram page and stated that all other comments attributed to him and his wife were fake. The exec explained that he didn’t mean to take the hat from the little boy, saying he thought it was meant for him.

The footage captures tennis star Kamil Majchrzak holding out the hat toward the child until Szczerek abruptly intercepted, grabbed the hat, and tucked it into his wife’s tote bag. In the video, he appears to ignore the child’s protestations.

“I would like to unequivocally apologize to the boy who was harmed, his family, as well as all the fans and the player himself,” Szczerek wrote on Instagram, via a translation. “I made a serious mistake.”

“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,” the CEO went on. 

“Today, I know that I did something that looked like deliberately taking a souvenir from a child. That was never my intention, but it doesn’t change the fact that I hurt the boy and disappointed the fans. The cap has since been given to the boy, and apologies made to the family. I hope that at least in part I have repaired the harm I caused,” he added. 

“It is a painful but necessary lesson in humility,” Szczerek wrote.

Since the incident, Majchrzak located the boy, who was identified as Brock, and posed for photos with him. “Hello World, Together with Brock we wish you a great day!” the tennis pro wrote in an Instagram caption shared on Saturday.

He showed a photo of himself giving more gifts to Brock in another Story. 

Szczerek has been targeted online since the incident, with angry individuals bombarding his company with negative reviews and publicly criticizing him for his actions.