Published: 25 July ‘2025. The English Chronicle Desk | The English Chronicle Online
A fleeting moment on the big screen at a Coldplay concert has snowballed into an extraordinary corporate fallout, drawing global media attention and triggering the resignations of two senior executives from a leading US tech firm.
Kristin Cabot, the now-former Chief People Officer of the data streaming company Astronomer, resigned days after her colleague and then-CEO Andy Byron stepped down. Both had been caught in a spontaneous and affectionate embrace during the band’s live performance in Boston — a moment broadcast on the concert’s massive screens and viewed by millions online shortly after going viral.
The clip captured Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin bantering with the audience after noticing the couple’s awkward reaction to being featured on screen. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy,” Martin joked, prompting laughter from the crowd — and unwittingly igniting a viral storm.
Social media users quickly identified Cabot and Byron, raising eyebrows due to their high-ranking positions within the same company. While the nature of their relationship has not been confirmed, the public spectacle raised serious concerns about professional conduct and internal governance at Astronomer.
In the wake of the video’s viral spread, Astronomer issued a carefully worded statement: “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.” Though the company clarified that “no other employees were in the video,” online speculation and misinformation had already begun to spread, falsely naming a third party who was not present.
Pete DeJoy, now serving as Astronomer’s interim CEO, acknowledged the unexpected intensity of the situation. “While I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name,” he wrote in a post on LinkedIn, referring to the bizarre twist of fate that has thrown the company into the media spotlight.
The “kiss cam” segment at concerts and sporting events is traditionally meant to add levity and entertainment. Yet this incident has sparked wider debate about the boundaries between private moments and public scrutiny — particularly for public-facing professionals in positions of leadership.
Chris Martin, who returned to the stage for another performance following the viral video, offered a light-hearted preamble before the cameras panned the crowd again. “We’d like to say hello to some of you in the crowd. How we’re gonna do that is we’re gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. So please, if you haven’t done your make-up, do your make-up now,” he teased, acknowledging the previous week’s media frenzy with characteristic charm.
Though Cabot and Byron’s departure marks an effort by Astronomer to move beyond the incident, the episode underscores how viral moments — however brief or unintended — can have long-lasting ramifications, both personal and professional. The Coldplay concert that was meant to be a night of music and celebration has instead become a symbol of how quickly public perception and corporate consequences can collide in the digital age.
