Astronomer CEO Andy Byron put on leave after viral Coldplay video

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Astronomer has put CEO Andy Byron on leave after he was caught cuddling with the company’s HR head at a Coldplay concert this week.

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In a statement to CNBCthe company said that co-founder and product chief Pete DeJoy is serving as interim CEO.

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In a post to X and LinkedInAstronomer said it was launching a “formal investigation into this matter” after Byron, who is married, was shown on a video screen embracing his company’s chief people officer Kristin Cabot, who is also married.

“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,” the company said.

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The tech company’s statement also addressed a phony apology that had been attributed to Byron that had circulated widely across social media saying that the CEO “has not put out any statement.”

The fake statement drew ire from netizens after the bogus Byron called it “troubling” that Coldplay had shown him on the screen “without my consent.”

Astronomer also denied that another person present in the video was Alyssa Stoddard, who works for Cabot.

“Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video,” they wrote.

Cabot has also been put on leave, according to Axios.

Byron and Cabot went viral this week after they were caught canoodling on a “kiss cam” midway through Coldplay’s show outside of Boston.

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As faces in the sold-out crowd were shown on giant video boards inside Gillette Stadium, the band’s singer, Chris Martin, seemed taken with Byron and Cabot when the snuggling couple popped up on the screen.

“Ohhh look at these two!” Martin said playfully, as the pair embraced one another. But as soon as they were shown, the grey-haired Byron dove out of view quickly, while the blond Cabot shielded her face and turned away. “Alright, c’mon. You’re OK,” the frontman continued as they tried to hide themselves.

“Oh oh, what?” Martin said, when he realized they were desperately trying not to be shown. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure … I hope we didn’t do something bad.”

Martin, 48, later made a lighthearted joke about the gaffe when a different man and woman were shown on the screen.

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“OK, listen, are you two a couple? Are you two a legitimate couple?” he quipped.

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After racking up millions of views on TikTok and X, social media users became convinced the Byron and Cabot were cheating on their significant others, and it didn’t take long before several Internet sleuths claimed to have identified the companions.

“I think somebody got caught cheating at a Coldplay concert,” one person wrote on X, while another added, “Having your affair go viral & public at a f***ing Coldplay concert is so f***ing funny to me.”

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X user Mrs. SpaceX shared photos from the duo’s purported LinkedIn pages with claims that they worked for the same company.

Soon after, the U.S. Sun identified the partners as Byron and Cabot — the CEO and HR head, respectively, of Astronomer, a software development company.

On Cabot’s LinkedIn page, she boasts that she builds “trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants,” while Byron is described by one endorser as “a highly inspirational, motivational and experienced sales professional.”

Grace Springer, who uploaded the original clip of Byron and Cabot to Tiktokwhere it has accumulated more than 91 million views, told the U.S. Sun she “had no idea who the couple was” and posted the exchange because she thought she “caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it.”

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Springer admitted to having some guilt for exposing Byron and Cabot, but said in the end the embarrassment the two are now facing is of their own making.

“A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games … win stupid prizes,” she said. “I hope their partners can heal from this and get a second chance at the happiness they deserve with their future still in front of them. I hope, for them, my video was a blessing in disguise.”

In a follow-up TikTok, Springer said she pulled out her phone hoping to capture herself on the video screen. “It was Andy instead. So, yeah,” she said, apologizing to Martin “for the drama.”

With seemingly no end to their public embarrassment, footage obtained by TMZ on Friday showed Byron and Cabot locking lips as the band played Yellow.

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Fans have now rallied around Byron’s jilted wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, after online detectives revealed her identity.

“Andy Byron‘s wife has now dropped her married name on Facebook and left comments open on her Facebook!” Mrs. SpaceX wrote.

Meanwhile, with Byron’s marriage apparently in shambles, a former colleague called him a “toxic” leader and said that other people they had worked with are “laughing their ass off” at his public humiliation.

“The text groups and chains of former employees are like … everybody’s laughing their ass off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed,” the source told the New York Post.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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