Inside The Living 'Nightmare' Of British Billionaire's Stepson, Brian Szasz
Szasz decided to go to a concert to cope while his stepfather was missing at the bottom of the ocean.
The search for a missing Titanic-bound submersible has taken the internet by storm in the last few days, and officials had previously expressed fear of the ship’s oxygen supply running low while carrying five passengers. A search team eventually confirmed to have spotted debris from the underwater vessel located near the Titanic wreckage.
On Thursday, June 22, the U.S. Coast Guard released an update confirming all five passengers were tragically killed in a “catastrophic implosion” aboard the submarine.
Among the passengers of the Titan submersible were British business man Hamish Harding, 58, whose stepson, Brian Szasz, has become a trending topic on social media following the ship’s disappearance.
Who is Brian Szasz?
Thirty-seven-year-old Brian Szasz — stepson of British billionaire, Hamish Harding — has caused quite the stir online for a number of reasons. Szasz is an audio engineer, and the son of Linda Harding, who is married to Hamish Harding, one of the five passengers on the Titan submersible.
The billionaire's stepson first went viral after he uploaded a since-deleted photo of himself at a Blink-182 concert in San Diego while news of his stepfather aboard the missing underwater vessel was front and center in the news.
Szasz first came into the spotlight after announcing he'd be attending a concert amid news of the missing submersible.
On June 19, Szasz tweeted, “My stepdad Hamish is on this submarine lost at sea. I’m devastated but coming to the San Diego show tonight so you guys can give me hope and cheer me up,” he wrote.
He later posted on Facebook, “It might be distasteful being here but my family would want me to be at the Blink-182 show as it’s my favorite band and music helps me in difficult times.”
Szasz then tweeted at Tom Delonge, singer and guitarist for Blink-182, “My stepdad is missing in the sub at the titanic site. I’m here at the San Diego show for support thanks."
While Szasz's posts have since been deleted, along with his entire Twitter account at his mother’s request, he still received plenty of backlash online, including from Bronx rapper, Cardi B, for his lack of empathy while his stepfather had been reported missing.
Szasz slammed Cardi B for her comments.
On Thursday, June 22, the same day the fates of the five passengers was revealed, Szasz posted stories on his Instagram account criticizing Cardi B.
"So, you take a complete b---h like Cardi B, [who] has no idea what's going on — her career is in such turmoil she needs clout off other people's suffering. She's like, 'He won't go help, blah blah blah, he goes to a rock concert, this and that, tries to use the situation to exploit, like, the news... They're not like feeling sorry that my mom has to take care of two kids, not really giving a f--k that my stepdad... 99% chance that he's dead. Doesn't care how we feel," he said.
He then blamed Cardi B for the "hate mail" he and his family had been receiving, adding, "It's just f--ked up to have Cardi B behind it. Cardi B, f--king grow up. Get some class. You're tasteless."
Cardi B then responded to Szasz's now deleted tweet.
Brian Szasz deleted his Twitter account after facing criticism for publicly flirting with an OnlyFans model.
But Szasz's response to Cardi B, as well as attending a concert, isn't the only reason he's remained in the spotlight amid the Titan disaster.
On Wednesday, June 21, three days after the submarine was declared missing, Szasz asked his Twitter followers to pray for his family during this stressful time. An hour later, Szasz raised eyebrows when he quote-tweeted a thirst trap from an OnlyFans model that captioned, “can i sit on u," to which he replied, “Yes please!”
Szasz’s Twitter account has since been deleted as result of the backlash.
Internet users call out Szasz, who allegedly threatened to ‘shoot up a concert and stalked many female DJs’.
In her TikTok video, @therealkatherine replied to a comment that drew attention to Szasz’s previous reported threats to shoot up a festival, which got him sent to prison for two years as a result.
In addition to the violent threats, the TikToker discovered that the 37-year-old was involved in "stalking and harassing various women" in the rave community, including Australian DJ Alison Wonderland, who received dangerous threats from Szasz after not replying to his tweets. He was eventually arrested and charged with “online stalking” in June 2021.
Thankfully, these alleged threats of violence were never brought to fruition. Moreover, Szasz released a video statement on his Instagram story defending his actions amidst the submersible debacle.
Ultimately, while there are many ways for people to cope with a loss or a traumatic event, most would agree that spending a night out at a concert while a relative is nowhere to be found is probably not the best course of action to take.
Xiomara Demarchi is a writer based in New York covering news and human interest topics on YourTango's editorial team.