The tech company Astronomer announced on Friday that they were launching an investigation into the situation with their CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot after the two were spotted canoodling at a Coldplay concert.
“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 company said in a statement posted to LinkedIn.
“The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”
The statement also addressed rumors that another HR department employee was the woman captured on video standing beside the couple smiling widely.
“Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video,” the LinkedIn statement added. “Andy Byron has not put out any statement, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.”
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The update comes days after a video of the two company execs went massively viral online, racking up more than 55 million views on the original TikTok and being shared across all social media platforms.
The short video shows Byron, who is married, and Cabot embracing one another at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when the kiss cam landed on them. The couple reacted immediately, with Byron letting go of Cabot and stepping out of frame. Cabot had a similar reaction as she immediately hid her face and turned away from the camera.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out their reaction. “Oh look at these two,” the singer can be heard saying. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
The popularity of the video spurred many fake reactions, including a faux statement attributed to Byron and images of a fake social media post attributed to Coldplay saying, “Starting with our next show, we’re introducing camera-free audience sections for people and their sidepieces.”
Byron has served as CEO of Astronomer since 2023, and Cabot was hired nine months ago.
Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, removed her last name from her Facebook account before deactivating it entirely. Byron was on LinkedIn, but appears to have removed his profile as of Friday. They reportedly have two children.
Ry Walker, Astronomer’s former CEO, addressed the situation with an X post.
“For those asking—I’m no longer involved in @astronomerio—yes I was co-founder and early CEO—not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate.”
