Astronomer HR chief resigns one week after being caught on Coldplay ‘kiss cam’

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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.

One week after “Coldplaygate”, former chief executive Andy Byron and former chief people officer Kristin Cabot have both resigned from Astronomer.

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.

The fallout was swift; within hours, Byron deleted his LinkedIn profile, with queries for his page resulting in a 404 Not Found error message. Instagram and Facebook accounts linked to Byron’s wife were also seemingly deleted, with Cabot eventually wiping her LinkedIn profile as well. Byron and Cabot no longer appear on Astronomer’s website.

Astronomer spent July 17 (July 18 AEST) quietly confirming statements purportedly from Byron were false, before issuing an official statement on July 18 (July 19 AEST) announcing that Byron had been placed on leave, and the board of directors was formally investigating the matter.

One day later, the company confirmed Byron had resigned from his role, writing in a statement on LinkedIn: “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.”

That same night, Martin appeared to deliver an oblique nod to the incident while not specifically referring to it as he warned the crowd in Madison, Wisconsin, of the incoming “kiss cam” segment

“Coldplaygate” may have sparked a plethora of parodies – North Queensland Cowboys NRLW stars Makenzie Weale and Tallisha Harden mimicked the moment as they celebrated scoring a try at the weekend – but it’s also prompted debate around the right to privacy and workplace relationships.

Astronomer is a private company with no share listing, though in May, it raised $US93 million ($143 million) in Series D funding. No valuation was announced at the time, though Newsweek reported Astronomer achieved “unicorn” status and was valued at more $US1 billion ($1.5 billion) in 2022.

In a post on LinkedIn earlier this week, Astronomer’s interim chief executive Pete DeJoy said he hoped the company could move past the viral moment.

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies – let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world – ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote. “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.”