Kristin Cabot, Chief People Officer of US tech firm Astronomer, has resigned following the viral fallout from a Coldplay concert kiss-cam moment.
The now-infamous video, filmed at Gillette Stadium in front of 55,000 attendees, captured a man and woman - identified by US media as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot - swaying to music before appearing flustered and ducking from the camera.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin quipped to the crowd: "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy."
The clip, originally posted by concertgoer Grace Springer, exploded online, racking up millions of views and quickly becoming meme material.
Springer told the US Sun: “A part of me feels bad… but, play stupid games, win stupid prizes. I just thought I caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it.”
As speculation about the pair's identities mounted, and fake statements began circulating, Astronomer released a statement confirming an internal investigation and announced that Byron had been placed on leave. The next day, he resigned.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard… and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said at the time.
According to the BBC, the company also confirmed that Cabot has also now resigned.
Astronomer, a startup valued at over $1.3 billion and known for its generative AI platform used by firms like Uber and LinkedIn, found itself at the center of a public relations storm - one it never anticipated.
Springer later told This Morning: “In the moment when I filmed it I didn't think much of it but everyone was kind of chattering. There was over 50,000 people at the concert so it was a hot topic.
"But it wasn't until after the concert that I was debriefing the moment with my friends and said, 'let's review the footage, let's see if it really looks that bad'. And I think it does.”
She added: “I definitely feel for Andy's wife Megan, his family and everyone else who has been hurt in the process but as I said there was over 50,000 people and I'm not the only one that caught it on camera so if it wasn't me who uploaded it, I'm sure someone else would've.”
With both executives gone, co-founder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy has stepped in as interim CEO.
He addressed the media storm in a candid LinkedIn post: “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 noted: “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.”
Despite the chaos, he stressed the company’s focus on moving forward: “We’re here because Astronomer is built by people who live to solve hard problems, stay late to fix what’s broken, and care deeply about doing things the right way.
“We’re here because our customers trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects. And, most importantly, we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment," he added.
Astronomer has not publicly commented further beyond confirming the resignations.