Company launches investigation after executives caught canoodling in Coldplay kiss cam
The company they both work for has confirmed it is launching an investigation into the matter.
The incident, which has since gone global, occurred at the British super group's gig in Boston, USA, on Wednesday.
The camera zoomed in on the couple happily in a romantic embrace. But their faces turned from contentment to horror when they realised the whole stadium could see them. Both then fled, making concert-goers wonder why they were so determined not to be seen.
The couple have been identified Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot.
Mr Byron is the CEO of a billion-dollar New York based AI and data company Astronomer while Ms Cabot is the company's chief human resources officer.
One X user claimed that Mr Byron's wife had dropped her married name from her Facebook profile, and didn't restrict people from making comments.
Her page was flooded with users reacting to the Coldplay concert clip before she deleted her profile.
She had multiple images on her social media of her and her husband and two teenagers presumed to be their sons.
Ms Cabot is not married.
Company launches investigation
On Friday, US time, Astronomer said it had started a 'formal investigation' following the furore.
'Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,' a statement on LinkedIn stated.
'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability.
'The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.'
The company stressed the only employees at the concert were the pair after claims they were with fellow staff.
'Andy Byron has not put out any statement, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.'
That last point was apparently in reference to a slightly too convincing mea culpa supposedly from Mr Byron.
That statement talked of wanting to 'sincerely apologise to my wife, my family, and the team at Astronomer' but also berated the concert organisers for how 'troubling' it was that a 'private moment became public without my consent'.
Astronomer's communications director, Taylor Jones, confirmed to Men's Journal the apology 'is not a real statement'.
The false statement's origins can be traced to an X account of a person claiming to be a CBS journalist named... Peter Enis.
The page is labelled a parody account, with the bio indicating the name is a phallic pun.
Many companies have polices that forbid or have strict disclosure obligations around relationships that involve senior staff amid concerns the employees further down the ladder could feel pressured into them.
Then CEO of McDonalds Steve Easterbrook resigned in 2019 after he admitted to a consensual relationship with an employee below him violating company policy.
It's not known if Astronomer has a policy in that regard.
In the video, now viral worldwide, Ms Cabot covered her face and turned her back while Mr Byron ducked out of view, prompting laughter from the crowd.
Mr Byron appears to mutter, 'F***ing hell, it's me', before disappearing from view.
'Oh, what?' Coldplay front man Chris Martin said as the scenes were played out to the concert goers.
'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' he added.
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Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Astronomer HR chief resigns one week after being caught on Coldplay ‘kiss cam'
Astronomer's chief people officer, Kristin Cabot, has resigned a week after being caught on Coldplay's 'kiss cam' in an embrace with former Astronomer chief executive Andy Byron. In statements supplied to numerous media outlets in the United States, including Page Six and TMZ, a spokesperson for the New York-based company confirmed that Cabot, who joined its C-suite in late 2024, is 'no longer with Astronomer' and had 'resigned'. It comes days after Byron, who was appointed Astronomer's chief executive in 2023, resigned from his job leading the AI data orchestration software start-up. How 'Coldplaygate' unfolded It's usually an unremarkable segment of Coldplay's Music of the Spheres concerts, with frontman Chris Martin singing a line or two about the loved-up couples beamed up onto the Jumbotron by the band's 'kiss cam'. But when Byron, who was shown swaying to the music with his arms draped around Cabot at Gillette Stadium on the evening of July 16 (July 17 AEST), and the former HR executive realised they were on-screen, Byron quickly sunk to the floor, out of sight of the camera, while Cabot hid her face in her hands and turned around. 'The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.' Pete DeJoy, Astronomer interim chief executive Adding fuel to the fire was Martin's wry commentary from the stage, with the Yellow singer saying into the microphone: 'Oh, look at these two ... Either they're having an affair or they're very shy.' Both Byron and Cabot are believed to have been married to other people at the time, and neither Byron nor Cabot has publicly commented on the incident, their exits from Astronomer or the affair allegations. This masthead is not suggesting the allegations of an affair between Byron and Cabot are true, just that they have been made. No one could have predicted the sheer fervour with which the whole world would latch on to the seconds-long moment in Foxborough, Massachusetts that 28-year-old Grace Springer, from New Jersey, shared footage of on TikTok. It's been referenced beyond social media to Oasis concerts, comedy shows, breakfast television and sports games.
Sydney Morning Herald
6 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
Who hasn't cheated? I have. So why do we mock the Coldplaygate couple?
Hands up, anyone who has never cheated in their life. At cards, on someone, whatever. Not many. Yeah, that checks out. Because we're human. Born to stuff up. My hand is down. I've been a cheater. The guilt I carried is gone, replaced by regret and gratitude that I learned a lot about the world and myself. And that I could absorb those lessons in private. It takes time to admit you did something shithouse. To work out what got you there, and no, the answer is rarely too many cocktails. That's probably just the tipping point. You need to go deep, be super honest. Which is why the global infamy of Jumbotrongate – the Astronomer colleagues Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot caught hugging on the big screen at a Coldplay concert – has made me reflect. Sure, and be briefly obsessed. I'm not nearly that good a person that I can't relish a gotcha moment. But what's still bugging me a week later isn't the alleged cheating or that a corporate guy is held to a higher standard of values than the US president. Loading It's the fake statement attributed to Byron's wife Megan that went viral. It channelled Xena: Warrior Princess crossed with Delta Goodrem energy. Along with a baffling reference to silk gloves, it declared, 'I am not spiralling. I am ascending.' Said nobody ever after learning their spouse took a side piece to hear Yellow live. Still, it was shared everywhere by people with big followings and platforms.
The Age
6 hours ago
- The Age
Who hasn't cheated? I have. So why do we mock the Coldplaygate couple?
Hands up, anyone who has never cheated in their life. At cards, on someone, whatever. Not many. Yeah, that checks out. Because we're human. Born to stuff up. My hand is down. I've been a cheater. The guilt I carried is gone, replaced by regret and gratitude that I learned a lot about the world and myself. And that I could absorb those lessons in private. It takes time to admit you did something shithouse. To work out what got you there, and no, the answer is rarely too many cocktails. That's probably just the tipping point. You need to go deep, be super honest. Which is why the global infamy of Jumbotrongate – the Astronomer colleagues Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot caught hugging on the big screen at a Coldplay concert – has made me reflect. Sure, and be briefly obsessed. I'm not nearly that good a person that I can't relish a gotcha moment. But what's still bugging me a week later isn't the alleged cheating or that a corporate guy is held to a higher standard of values than the US president. Loading It's the fake statement attributed to Byron's wife Megan that went viral. It channelled Xena: Warrior Princess crossed with Delta Goodrem energy. Along with a baffling reference to silk gloves, it declared, 'I am not spiralling. I am ascending.' Said nobody ever after learning their spouse took a side piece to hear Yellow live. Still, it was shared everywhere by people with big followings and platforms.
