CEO caught on 'kiss-cam' placed on leave by tech company Astronomer
The company wrote on X that Andy Byron has been replaced by its co-founder and Chief Product Officer, Pete DeJoy, currently serving as interim CEO.
Byron was caught in a compromising position with an employee when a "kiss-cam" at a Coldplay concert landed on them.
The Astronomer CEO quickly dove out of shot while the woman he was with, Kristin Cabot, who is HR chief of Astronomer, covered her face. The moment was filmed and posted online by another concertgoer, leading to its virality.
British tabloid The Sun reported that Astronomer is worth more than $1.3billion (€1.1bn) and Byron has served as CEO of the company since 2023. Cabot joined as Chief People Officer nine months ago.
The now-viral moment has sparked a wave of memes flooding social media platforms.
A statement that appeared to be Byron's response and apology was posted online, but Astronomer later confirmed it was fake. Neither Byron nor Cabot have publicly addressed the allegations.
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Euronews
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He wrote on LinkedIn: "While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name." In the wake of Byron's resignation, Chris Martin joked about the situation: 'We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd and put some of you on the big screen. How we're going to do that is we're going to use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. Please, if you haven't done your makeup, do your makeup now!' Une publication partagée par Coldplay Indonesia (@idwantscoldplay) The moment has also led Liam Gallagher to joke about the incident at a recent Oasis gig, telling fans not to worry as there are no cameras focused on the crowd during their reunion tour. "Don't worry for those who are cheating we don't have that Coldplay camera here," he said. Elsewhere, a new video game inspired by the viral moment is now available to play. Coldplay Canoodlers AKA The Cheating Game sees players take on the role of a kiss-cam operator and have to scan the crowd of a stadium show looking for the loved-up pair. Check it out here. 'I vibe coded a little game called Coldplay Canoodlers. You're the camera operator and you have to find the CEO and HR lady canoodling. 10 points every time you find them,' explained game creator Jonathan Mann on X. 'I wanted to see how fast I could vibe code a simple game based on a viral moment.' As if that weren't enough, the word "Coldplayed" has become a recent addition to the dictionary, courtesy of Ultimate Classic Rock. "Coldplayed" as a verb is defined thusly: "The act of being unintentionally exposed while cheating, especially in public, usually during major events" and "To be seen at the wrong place with the wrong person at the wrong time."
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