Astronomer CEO, Coldplay concert and a kiss cam: The perfect recipe for a scandal
By Ayush Sachan
Have you ever wondered what might happen if you mix a rock concert, a kiss cam, and a corporate power duo? You get a viral storm on social media that no one saw coming, especially not the CEO of Astronomer Andy Byron.
The strange and very public unraveling of what’s now being dubbed as the #ColdplayGate.
On July 16, Coldplay were performing at there sold-out show at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts, the iconic band took a break from their set list to let the stadium’s “Kiss Cam” do its thing. Cue laughter, cheers, and the occasional awkward smooch.
The camera eventually panned to Andy Byron the CEO of the fast-rising data company Astronomer, the mood shifted, as he was there with his Chief HR Officer Kristin Cabot.
The pair, seen with their arms around each other, quickly reacted as front man Chris Martin commented, “Oh, look at these two.” Byron abruptly pulled away and ducked behind a barrier while Cabot covered her face with her hands, visibly embarrassed.
Something was off and the audience in the stadium felt it, even Chris Martin jokingly addressed the moment, wondering aloud if they were “very shy… or having an affair.” Nobody had suspected how on the nose and correct Chris was.
Within hours, TikTok, X (formerly known as Twitter), and Instagram were ablaze with the clip, circulating all over social media, Millions of netizens watched the 10-second snippet on loop, Byron and Cabot were quickly identified, turning the moment into a real-life episode of Black Mirror.
The reason of the clip becoming a huge internet topic, is because Byron is married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, an accomplished educator with two children, while Cabot leads the company’s human resources team. Their shocked reactions made people suspicious about their relationship.
Were they dating? Were they cheating? Were they even supposed to be at the concert together? the internet and the theories around the topic went wild with the sure absurdity of the whole incident, the pair’s reaction, Chris martin’s comment it was just another recipe of a viral storm in no time the incident became a meme fest.
One merch seller wasted no time printing T-shirts and hoodies reading “I Took My Sidepiece to Coldplay”. Meanwhile, Neon, a film studio, opportunistically used the clip to promote a romantic drama starring Dave Franco and Alison Brie.
For Astronomer a company that is in the enterprise tech space with a valuation hovering around $1 billion, the moment was more than just awkward.
It raised more serious questions about workplace boundaries, ethics, and leadership accountability in the office, Cabot’s role as HR head made it much worse for the company, as the very person in charge of enforcing employee conduct policies is now central to what many perceive as an “internal relationship scandal”.
The officials at the Astronomers have decided to stay silent on the issue, but a company’s spokesperson recently debunked a fake apology supposedly from Byron riddled with Coldplay lyric references.
Neither Byron nor Cabot has issued a public statement meanwhile the Astronomer has shut down comments on its LinkedIn posts and gone into media lockdown.
What happened at Gillette Stadium was meant to be a fleeting moment of light-heartedness. Instead, it took a turn that made sure it became a perfect storm: corporate intrigue, social media frenzy, and very human consequences.
In the end, it’s a modern morality tale. One that teaches us how little it takes just one camera, one kiss, and one song to flip someone’s world upside down.