Coldplay kiss-cam couple twist: ‘Laughed at the memes'
Pete DeJoy, the man hired to temporarily take over Astronomer CEO's Andy Byron's duties, had a subtle but interesting reaction to an ex-staffer admitting he's laughed at Mr Byron's expense following his scandal.
Mr Byron and Kristen Cabot, both executives ta Astronomer, went global after they were caught embarking on a kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert last week. The pair then fled the camera's gaze. Mr Byron is married.
Astronomer has now announced an investigation into the incident with Mr De Joy stepping into to head the data firm.
Astronomer announced on Friday that Pete DeJoy was named interim CEO after Andy Byron was put on leave. Picture: X
Byron was suspended after he was caught allegedly cheating on his wife at a Coldplay concert in footage that went viral. Picture: Supplied
Mr DeJoy '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', reports Page Six.
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.
He concluded his lengthy post by writing, 'To the Astronomer crew — past and present — I love y'all. Keep going. Keep building. You've got this'.
Mr DeJoy's reaction to the post appears to signify that much of what Mr Hensley said resonated with him.
The former colleagues seem to share a close bond. Mr Hensley wrote via LinkedIn on Friday in response to the news that Mr DeJoy had been named Astronomer's interim CEO, 'Pete DeJoy is amazing. I'm so excited for him. Love you Petey'.
According to his LinkedIn page, Mr DeJoy has worked at Astronomer for eight years, with his most recent role being chief product officer. He has also worked as a vice president of product and is a co-founder.
A spokesman for Astronomer confirmed to Page Six via email late on Friday night that: 'Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is currently serving as interim CEO given Andy Byron has been placed on leave. We will share more details as appropriate in the coming days.'
X
SUBSCRIBER ONLY
Mr Byron and Astronomer's chief people officer Kristin Cabot were temporarily suspended from the company after they went viral for canoodling at a Coldplay concert earlier this week.
The two co-workers were caught on a jumbotron camera at a Boston show on Wednesday cosily hugging each other, but when they realised they were on the screen, they immediately hid in shame.
It was then revealed after Mr Byron is married to a woman named Megan Kerrigan Byron, who has since removed his last name from her Facebook and deactivated her social media accounts.
Ms Cabot divorced her first husband, Kenneth Thornby, in 2022, according to Massachusetts court records obtained by The Post.
However, it appears she may now be married to Privateer Rum's CEO Andrew Cabot, since they share the same last name and are co-owners of the same house in New Hampshire.
Zachary Hensley wrote the post that DeJoy 'liked'. Picture: LinkedIn
In it, he admitted he'd 'laughed at the memes'. Picture: LinkedIn
Neither Mr Byron nor Ms Cabot have commented on the affair allegations, but Astronomer released an official statement on Friday, revealing the company had launched a formal investigation into the matter.
'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,' the statement read.
'The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.'
This article originally appeared in Page Six and was reproduced with permission.
Originally published as Coldplay kiss-cam couple twist: 'Laughed at the memes'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Herald Sun
3 hours ago
- Herald Sun
Trump agrees to small reduction in Philippine tariffs
Don't miss out on the headlines from Breaking News. Followed categories will be added to My News. US President Donald Trump agreed Tuesday to reduce threatened tariffs on the Philippines, but only by one percentage point, after what he termed a successful meeting with his counterpart Ferdinand Marcos. Welcoming Marcos to the White House, Trump called him a "very tough negotiator" and said: "We're very close to finishing a trade deal -- a big trade deal, actually." In a social media post shortly afterward, Trump said that while the Philippines would open up completely to US goods, he would still impose a 19 percent tariff on products from the Southeast Asian country, a major exporter of high-tech items and apparel. "It was a beautiful visit, and we concluded our Trade Deal, whereby The Philippines is going OPEN MARKET with the United States, and ZERO Tariffs," Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. The Philippines was among two dozen economies confronted by Trump with letters this month warning of 20 percent tariffs on all goods coming into the United States as of August 1. The 19 percent rate is still above the 17 percent threatened by Trump in April, when he threatened sweeping global tariffs. The trade rift comes despite increasingly close defense relations between the United States and the Philippines, a former US colony and treaty-bound ally that has seen high tensions with China. The United States last year, under Trump's predecessor Joe Biden, deployed ground-launched missiles in the Philippines. Washington has also eyed ammunition manufacturing in the Philippines, despite the closure in 1992 of the US naval base at Subic Bay due to heavy public pressure. "All of what we consider part of the modernization of the Philippine military is really a response to the circumstances that surround the situation in the South China Sea," Marcos said next to Trump. Trump devoted much of the appearance to attacks on his Democratic predecessors Biden and Barack Obama. "We are essentially concerned with the defense of our territory and the exercise of our sovereign rights," said Marcos. "Our strongest, closest, most reliable ally has always been the United States." - Trump eyes China visit - China and the Philippines have engaged in a series of confrontations in the contested waters of the South China Sea, which Beijing claims almost entirely, despite an international ruling that the assertion has no legal basis. Trump has frequently questioned allies over their military spending, pondering why the United States should defend them in the NATO alliance. He has voiced fewer doubts about the Philippines. Both Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Secretary of State Marco Rubio in meetings with Marcos on Monday vowed to honor the 1951 Mutual Defense Treaty with the Southeast Asian nation. The Trump administration has identified China as the top US adversary but the US president has also boasted of his relationship with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping. Speaking alongside Marcos, Trump said he would "probably" visit China at Xi's invitation "in the not-too-distant future." He said of Marcos: "I don't mind if he gets along with China very well, because we're getting along with China very well." Trump added the Philippines had been "maybe tilting toward China" and "we untilted it very, very quickly." "I just don't think that would have been good for you," Trump said. The US president credited himself with the shift, although the turn towards Washington began after the 2022 election of Marcos, before Trump returned to power. Marcos's predecessor Rodrigo Duterte had flirted with closer relations with China and bristled at US criticism over human rights under Biden and Obama. Duterte is facing charges of crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court over a sweeping campaign against drug users and dealers that rights groups say killed thousands. aue-bys-sct/aha Originally published as Trump agrees to small reduction in Philippine tariffs
ABC News
7 hours ago
- ABC News
Is it OK to shame the Coldplay kiss cam couple?
Sam Hawley: If you hadn't realised by now that cameras are everywhere, so-called Coldplay-gate is a great reminder. And the Kisscam vision of a canoodling couple at the concert, who are apparently having an affair, is proof again how quickly word can travel on social media. Saying it went viral is an understatement. Today, political scientists from Loyola University in Chicago, Jennifer Forstall, on public shaming and when it can sometimes be a good thing. I'm Sam Hawley on Gadigal land in Sydney. This is ABC News Daily. Jennifer, we better start with a little recap from the Coldplay concert last week in Boston. I think at this point we all feel like we were there. Jennifer Forestal: Right, yeah. Social media will do that. Sam Hawley: Yes, exactly. It's got a fair bit of attention. So it was during this concert that Chris Martin, Coldplay's frontman, announced that he would be singing to a select few people in the crowd using cameras to say hello to members of the audience. Just tell me what happened after that. Jennifer Forestal: Right. So as I understand it, the Kisscam, as it's often called, is sort of going through the crowd, catching couples. Chris Martin, Coldplay lead singer: We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd. How we're going to do that is we're going to use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. Jennifer Forestal: And it happened upon a couple that was embracing and then very quickly realized the camera was on them and turned away, you know, ducked under the cover. Chris Martin, Coldplay lead singer: All right, come on, you're OK? Uh-oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy. Jennifer Forestal: And it turned out that he was absolutely right. Sam Hawley: Yeah, what a moment. OK, then the identities, of course, of this couple in the vision is confirmed as Andy Byron, who's a married chief executive of a tech company called Astronomer and Kristen Cabot, the company's chief people officer, who, by the way, is not his wife. And things haven't been going so well for them since then, have they? Jennifer Forestal: That's right. I think Andy Byron was put on leave. I think maybe actually they both were put on leave pending investigation by the company. And then we've quickly found out that Andy Byron submitted his resignation, which was accepted. News report: Astronomer said in a statement that Andy Byron had tended his resignation and the board of directors have accepted that resignation. This clip went viral. Jennifer Forestal: I think the jury is still out on what's happening with Kristen Cabot. I believe she's still employed with the company right now, but we'll see what happens there as well. Sam Hawley: Yeah, and of course, this vision, it has been beamed around the world. The original footage was taken by a TikTok user known as Instaagrace. And that vision that she posted has been viewed 124 million times. It's pretty extraordinary. Jennifer Forestal: It really is. I think it speaks to just the kind of virality that we can see on these technologies these days. Part of it is just kind of the, it's salacious. The way that we all kind of like to watch disasters unfold in front of us. I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that there's a kind of turn against sort of CEOs and wealthy elites more generally. So it feels kind of nice to see them sort of, see their life get ruined in front of our eyes. But at the end of the day, really, I think it's just another example of the sort of strife and effect, right? That if they hadn't done anything, if they would have just stayed sort of embracing and sort of waved at the camera, we wouldn't have thought twice about it. But it's the fact that they sort of reacted the way that they did that called attention to the fact that they were perhaps doing something wrong, which, again, if they would have just, you know, hugged each other and moved on, the camera would have gone to the next person. Chris Martin wouldn't have said anything. And we wouldn't be talking about this today. Sam Hawley: And the memes, you know, there's so many of them going around. They're calling it Coldplaygate. Jennifer Forestal: You know, they just kind of all are all over the place and they're all very funny. And I think some of what I think is so striking about this is that, to me, has been picked up in this kind of very funny way where it's not necessarily attacking the people involved, but it's kind of making light of the general situation and putting other people in that kind of circumstances rather than sort of going after the two people that were involved directly. Sam Hawley: The woman who posted this on TikTok, Grace Springer, she told The Sun newspaper that part of her feels bad for turning these people's lives upside down. But she says, play stupid games, you win stupid prizes. But she also said on TikTok that she's glad people are entertained, but she's really urged them to keep in mind the CEO's wife and his family. Grace Springer, TikTok user: But at the end of the day, Andy's wife and his family, they're very real people. So just keep that in mind. Jennifer Forestal: Yeah, of course. And I mean, you know, I've seen this is sort of a topic of debate, especially in this particular instance of public shaming or cancel culture, whatever you want to call it, is that these this particular instance happened in a public forum. You know, kiss cams are not necessarily an unusual invasion of privacy. They've been around for decades or pretty familiar to anybody who's been to a sporting event or a rock show or anything like that. So, you know, there's some argument to the point that's like, you know, if you are going to show up in a concert of 60,000 people, you know, don't expect to see privacy. It's not like they were filmed in their privacy of their own home or in a place that you might expect to get some sort of privacy. On the other hand, you know, it is sort of pointing out the just general surveillance state that we all live under these days, right? That anything can go viral, anything can be filmed by anybody else and uploaded to social media where it could get picked up and viewed by millions. And so I think there's a lot to consider. You know, it's not necessarily a straightforward, you know, they did something wrong and they should pay or they're completely victims in the situation. I just it's I just think it's complicated. Sam Hawley: Well, Jennifer, let's just unpack this a bit more, because as you say, it is actually rather complicated. This is basically public shaming, isn't it? It is. Just explain that a bit more. Jennifer Forestal: Yeah. So public shaming is oftentimes a general term that we use when people have violated some sort of social norm and are sort of publicly shamed, meaning they're like put through the ringer publicly. People sort of admonish them for doing this, whatever sort of violation it is. And so, you know, in a lot of ways, oftentimes when we think about public shaming in a digital age, it's called cancel culture. We think of things like going viral on Twitter, people being racist and things like that. And so what we're seeing here is in some ways an example of public shaming in the sense that this is a couple who have violated a norm of monogamy, presumably, and are sort of being publicly rebuked for going outside of the standard modes of behavior. And so people are sort of taking them to task and ridiculing them for that norm violation. And so, you know, some people would say that this is a violation of their privacy, that this is an overreaction or an inappropriate public reaction. And others would say, you know, it's exactly what they deserve for violating a social norm of monogamy. Sam Hawley: But Byron, he's hardly Jeffrey Epstein, right? Or Harvey Weinstein. He's just some guy who's gone to a concert. And people have deemed that he's behaved badly, but it seems pretty over the top, the amount of interest in him. Jennifer Forestal: Yeah, this is oftentimes one of the criticisms that we see of online public shaming in particular, right? That the scale of social media, the fact that so many people can jump on something so small, the fact that things can go public that wouldn't ordinarily be public, that this is a kind of violation or a kind of pathology of public shaming, that it's no longer working the way we might have in the past intended it to, where people, you know, broke a rule, were shamed for it, they changed their behavior and were welcomed back into the fold. And so, yeah, a lot of people would say this is the problem with cancel culture is that it incentivizes these overreactions, that their mob rule kind of goes unchecked, that there's no accountability for people who shame. And so they kind of, you know, go after people with no real seeming concern about what they might be doing to the victim of public shaming. And, you know, there's a lot to be said for that argument. I think that that is right in a lot of ways. I don't, you know, I think that there is a role for public shaming in public life. And I think it's worth thinking about sort of what is going on in cases of online public shaming, where the scale, the accountability mechanisms are maybe missing to make it valuable. Sam Hawley: Mm, all right. So you believe that public shaming is not bad in all cases. So just give me some examples when in fact it has led to good. Jennifer Forestal: So there are some violations that we, you know, wouldn't want to see people engage in, but we don't want the state to be involved in either. Right. So we don't want people to, for example, lie to their friends, but we also don't want them to be punished, like by jail if they are. In order to make sure that people keep their promises, we would publicly shame the people that don't. And then they would understand that that's a problem. Other people watching the public shaming would understand that they too would be shamed if they lie to their friends. And so we would presumably establish the social norm of not doing that. Other things that are very good candidates for public shaming are things where the state won't, for whatever reason, get involved. So there's a great book by a woman named Jennifer Jacquet about how public shaming has really been effective to use for shaming companies or corporations. So companies are oftentimes outside. They're sometimes not regulated maybe to the extent that people would want. And so public shaming campaigns can oftentimes get corporations to act in ways that people would like to see them act without necessarily getting the state involved in regulating them. Sam Hawley: Well, we do live in a world, Jennifer, where it can take a very long time to build up a reputation, but a moment to lose it. Do you think there is actually a lesson in all of this for us? Jennifer Forestal: I think that there's probably a few lessons, maybe not all of which are actionable. You know, the first is that there's a kind of a pragmatic warning in this, which is, you know, for better or worse, people are watching you in public spaces and you can get filmed doing whatever you do. And so people should probably be aware of that. Again, I'm not sure that that's necessarily a good thing or the kind of world that we want to live in, but it is the world that we do live in. And so it's important that people just, you know, remember that when they go about their daily business. More sort of philosophically, I think that it's important to when we think about public shaming and when we think about people going viral, it is also important to remember that those are real people. You know, what seems to one person to just be a kind of joke that they throw off into a tweet doesn't matter as much from that perspective. But from the perspective of the butt of the joke, it's 100,000 mean comments or 100,000 jokes at your expense. And that can oftentimes do more damage than I think we tend to think about when it's just us writing our individual response. Also thinking about ourselves in terms of the sort of collectives that we are in online. Social media platforms are oftentimes not designed to help us think about ourselves as part of communities or collectives, but we are. And so I think, again, thinking a little bit more about our online presence as part of communities rather than as individual or isolated actions is also something to keep in mind as well. Sam Hawley: What do you think? Do you think this couple deserved the level of public shaming that they were exposed to? Jennifer Forestal: You know, I don't. I don't. Probably not. No. But I will say this. It was striking to me as someone who's been thinking about this for a while that I actually don't think that Andy Byron got the same level of kind of vitriolic response that other victims of public shaming have. So if you think about high profile cases of public shaming in the past, people like Justine Sacco, who had the kind of racist South Africa tweet, or Amy Cooper, who had an altercation with a Black man in Central Park a few years ago, that these women in particular were dragged through the mud. They wereâ€'death threats were sent to them. They faced all sorts of personal attacks in a way that I have not heard is true of Andy Byron. So there, I think, is also an important thing to consider here in terms of gender, which is how your social position can sometimes insulate you from the effects of public shaming and what kinds of people are oftentimes more vulnerable to these kinds of situations. And so while I wouldn't say that anyone is sort of deserving of this kind of attack, especially individuals like that, I also am sort of aware and cognizant of the fact that different people in different social positions sort of react to or have a different response to that kind of situation. Sam Hawley: And also, I guess, the lesson, the big one, is if you don't want to be seen with someone at a big public event, perhaps don't go to that event with that person. Jennifer Forestal: Yeah, or again, maybe just play it cool. If you're caught doing something that you don't want people to react to, don't react to it yourself. Sam Hawley: Yeah, the poker face would have gone a long way. Jennifer, thank you so much. Jennifer Forestal: Of course. Thank you for having me. Sam Hawley: Jennifer Forstall is an Associate Professor of Political Science at Loyola University in Chicago. This episode was produced by Sydney Pead. Audio production by Sam Dunn. Our supervising producer is David Coady. I'm Sam Hawley. Thanks for listening.
Herald Sun
7 hours ago
- Herald Sun
AFL Caroline Wilson tells Craig Hutchy Hutchison to ‘grow up' in shock spray live on-air, Channel 7, The Agenda Setters
Don't miss out on the headlines from AFL. Followed categories will be added to My News. Caroline Wilson bluntly told Craig Hutchison to 'grow up' during a feisty spat live on Channel 7. Hutchison, Wilson, Kane Cornes and Nick Riewoldt front The Agenda Setters on the network and the two footy greats sat silently while the media identities got into a squabble over one of Hutchy's recent business moves. FOX FOOTY, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every match of every round in the 2025 Toyota AFL Premiership Season LIVE in 4K, with no ad-breaks during play. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. The pre-planned segment, which Hutchison clearly did not know was going to happen, related to the media mogul's awkward appearance on radio network RSN last week after he announced a raft of sackings at the station. Earlier this month, the TV host's SEN group purchased RSN in a $3.25 million deal and immediately set about cutting costs, including giving popular hosts Daniel Harford and Michael Felgate the flick. Watch the Hutchy-Caro exchange in the video player above SEN owner Craig Hutchison didn't appreciate the line of questioning. Photo: Supplied Many long-time listeners of the station only learned the news when Hutchison fronted Felgate's Racing Pulse show last Thursday. So Wilson took the opportunity to make a cheeky plea over her own future on the Channel 7 show. Set up by Riewoldt in a section called The Spill, the former St Kilda captain put the vague question to Wilson: 'The hour on air of the Agenda Setters is the highest risk of all.' The long-time Age reporter replied: 'Well, certainly if you're on air with Craig Hutchison. 'This is no respect, disrespect I should say, to Michael Felgate or Daniel Harford for that matter. 'But if you're going to remove me from the show, can you please not do it with me on-air?' Daniel Harford (left) and Michael Felgate have been dumped from RSN. Wilson delivered the jab with a straight face and Hutchison did not take it well. 'This is not something to joke about,' he shot back. When Wilson said 'I'm not joking about it', Hutchy said: 'No, that's incredibly disrespectful and disappointing. That story is incorrect. It didn't happen.' Wilson, clearly surprised by Hutchison's reaction, stuck to her guns. 'Oh, don't. Craig, you walked into the studio, I know Michael Felgate already knew that his show would no longer be continuing,' she said. 'But if you're going to do it to me, I would rather it happen behind the scenes and not on air.' With Hutchison's production company directly involved in The Agenda Setters, perhaps Wilson just signed her own papers? Watch this space. But Hutchy wasn't taking the shot lying down. 'There was a press release the day before and there was a mature, two-way conversation on-air and you're making light of it, which is disappointing,' a seemingly hurt Hutchy replied. Wilson then had the last word, scoffing as she said: 'Oh, grow up.' Cornes and Riewoldt then did their best to keep the show moving, moving onto a story about Travis Boak and his habits in the bedroom the night before a game. Somehow, that topic was nowhere near as awkward as the exchange between the old journalists. In a bizarre segment last week, Felgate had the opportunity to grill Hutchison about why he was losing his job, with the latter doing his best to stress it wasn't a personal decision. Caroline Wilson, Craig Hutchison and Kane Cornes left Nine to join Channel 7. Picture: Channel 9 Felgate began the interview asking: 'I've got to start with the elephant in the room. An announcement yesterday which came out that there will be programming changes. 'Breakfast with Harf and this show, Racing Pulse, will no longer exist in the new regime. 'Just talk us through the reasoning. Why you don't want Breakfast with Harf and Racing Pulse on the new station?' Hutchison responded: 'First of all they're magnificent shows, so no disrespect at all to the quality of the programs and the identities involved, you in particular Michael and Daniel, who have been incredible servants of RSN. 'There's nothing personal about (cancelling) either of those programs … we need to invest, over time, into the racing product, it's a racing station. 'It's a different audience to the one that we have developed over on SEN Track, very different audience, very different experience, they don't really resemble each other after midday.' He went on to say: 'I know that won't be everyone's cup of tea on day one. 'You (Felgate) have got an enormous following, so does Daniel. The default position from many will be to have empathy for those programs and I respect that hugely. Hugely, because it's not about the quality of the shows.' Harford, who has been an icon of the network, said on his show last Thursday it had been 'a period of uncertainty' for those involved. 'So at the end of August this program will cease to exist,' he said. 'We'll be no longer required and there will be different programming on RSN which is very sad. Harford with David King. Photo: Supplied 'We've been doing this for a long time, which is very sad. We've had a lot of conversations about this internally for a little while. 'Certainly in the last couple of days when we found out what was going to be happening. 'So that's the reality of our situation.' The Hutchison-led group announced RSN will double dip from the Hutchison-backed SEN network and will broadcast SEN Breakfast. SEN's flagship breakfast slot, whish is shared between Cornes, David King, Tim Watson and Garry Lyon, will now be broadcast on two frequencies. Felgate's Racing Pulse will be replaced by Gareth Hall's Giddy Up. Those changes will be made from August 29. Originally published as Caroline Wilson tells Hutchy to 'grow up' in shock spray live on-air
