Coldplay warning after kiss cam couple furore

News.com.au

3 days ago

Coldplay warning after kiss-cam couple furore
Coldplay front man Chris Martin made a warning to concertgoers on Saturday night, US time, letting them know the kiss cam was about to be turned on and could broadcast their relationship to the world.
It comes after the extraordinary fallout from a Coldplay concert in Boston last week when the kiss cam settled on Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot who were embracing at the time.
Both were senior executives at New York data firm Astronomer with Mr Byron the company's chief executive.
The image of the pair canoodling and then frantically ducking for cover went global.
'Either they're having an affair or they're very shy,' Martin said from the stage.
Mr Byron is married and not to Ms Cabot.
Astronomer placed Mr Byron on leave and he has subsequently resigned.
On Saturday, Martin forewarned the crowd so a similar awkward encounter could be avoided.
'We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd, how we gonna do that, is we gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen,' Martin told the crowd at a show in Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin.
'So please, if you haven't done your makeup, do your makeup now,' he added.
As CEO of Astronomer, Mr Byron had been on a tidy sum.
According to the New York Post, Mr was paid between $US469,000 and $US690,000 ($A717,000 to $A1 million) a year, plus performance-based bonuses.
He is believed to be worth $US50 million ($A76 million), and the most recent valuation for Astronomer placed the company's worth at $US1.3 billion ($A2 billion).
However, he won't be getting that pay cheque after he resigned from his leadership role ta the firm.
Astronomer confirmed Mr Byron had quit on Saturday.
'Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,' a spokesman said, reported The New York Post.
'Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.
'The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.'
Mr DeJoy seemed to be enjoying the furore.
He 'liked' a LinkedIn post from Zachary Hensley — who was the vice president of technology and operations at Astronomer from 2019 to 2024 — in which he admitted, 'Yes, I've laughed at the memes'.
The former staffer shared, however, that he had mixed feelings about the entire ordeal, adding, 'But I also know Astronomer is more than one moment or one person. It's a team of smart, kind, driven people doing incredible work. And I'll always be rooting for them.'
Mr Hensley noted in his post that despite seeing all of the memes and having shared 'more than a few,' he 'felt a strange mix of pride, nostalgia, and whiplash' before gushing about his time at the tech company.