'It's what my family would want:' Stepson of UK billionaire trapped on Titanic sub boasts of going to Blink-182 gig
22 June 2023, 08:34 | Updated: 22 June 2023, 10:42
The stepson of the British billionaire aboard the missing Titanic submarine posted about going to a gig minutes after asking for "thoughts and prayers" as rescuers scramble to find the vessel.
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Brian Szasz, 36, admitted it "might be distasteful" to go to a gig but insisted his family "would want" him to have seen his favourite band, Blink-182.
The California resident's stepfather Hamish Harding is one of five tourists on board the Titan, the submersible that has vanished 400 miles off the coast of Newfoundland after descending to show the tourists the wreck of the Titanic - about 12,000ft below the waves in the Atlantic.
Time is running out to save the crew - they have until about midday UK time before their oxygen runs out.
But amid the frantic search and tragedy, Mr Harding's stepson has caused controversy for his gig visit.
"Hamish my stepdad is lost in a submarine thoughts and prayers that the rescue mission will be successful," he posted on Monday.
But minutes later he uploaded a photo of himself at the Blink-182 gig.
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"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!" he said.
He also replied to an OnlyFans model, who tweeted a raunchy photo with the caption 'can i sit on u', to which Szasz replied: "Yes please!"
Several of his social media posts have since been deleted after a barrage of criticism and mockery online.
Previously, when he announced his stepfather was missing, Szasz said: "For privacy, my mom asked me to delete all related posts thanks for the support."
Mr Harding, 58, is a billionaire and adventurer who was earned three Guinness World Records.
He established the records for travelling to the deepest part of the ocean for the longest time on a single dive, diving for a total of four hours and 15 minutes.
He also achieved the fastest circumnavigation of the earth across the north and south poles, achieving the feat in 46 hours, 40 minutes and 22 seconds in July 2019, and a earned a third for the longest distance traversed at full ocean depth by a crewed vessel.
The Cambridge alumnus also took part in Blue Origin's fifth human spaceflight, organised by Jeff Bezos.
In 2016, he accompanied Buzz Aldrin to the south pole when the former astronaut became the oldest person to reach it at age 86.
He is the founder and chairman of Action Aviation, an international sales company in the aeroplane sector. The company offers aircraft brokerage, management and financing.
Mr Harding is based in the United Arab of Emirates, married to his wife Linda, and has two sons, Rorry and Giles, a step-daughter named Lauren and Szasz.
He is onboard with Paul-Henri Nargeolet, a French explorer, Shahzada Dawood, a UK-based Pakistani businessman who is a board member of the Prince's Trust charity, his son Suleman Dawood, and Stockton Rush, the CEO of OceanGate, which owns the Titan sub and organises the expedition.
The boat had 96 hours of oxygen supply to start with, and its passengers are expected to run out at 7.08am local time (12.08pm UK time), a spokesperson for the US coastguard said.
"We have to remain optimistic and hopeful when we are in a search and rescue case," Coastguard captain Jamie Frederick said.
"If we continue to search, potentially we could be at that point... And that's a discussion we will have with the families long before I am going to discuss here publicly."
He added: "We always have hope - that's why we're doing what we do."
