For my 2025 bingo card, I certainly did not have us getting an epic viral moment… from a Coldplay concert, but here we are. On Wednesday (yes, we’re only five days in to Kiss Cam Gate!) Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot attended a Coldplay concert in Boston, and gave the world a master class in what NOT to do when the Kiss Cam lands on you in the midst of an affair. We the public probably would have been none the wiser had Andy not ducked out of view, or Kristin hadn’t hid her face in her hands and then turned her back to the camera. (Sidenote: a couple has helpfully put together a tutorial on better ways to play off such a moment. The world truly is coming together in hard times.) Complicating matters is that Andy and Kristen aren’t merely lovers, they’re also coworkers at billion-dollar tech company, Astronomer. And they’re not merely coworkers, they’re both C-Suite Leadership, with Andy CEO and Kristin the Chief People Officer, or Human Resources. Yikes!!
So after the story blew up on Thursday and Friday, Astronomer came back down to earth over the weekend and made a series of announcements via their LinkedIn page. Here was their first statement:
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 Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.
Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video. Andy Byron has not put out any statements, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.
That last line was in response to a couple things; a fake statement that was attributed to Andy before being debunked, plus the rumor that attending the concert was a work event/outing. No other employees may have been there, but I’ll stake my life on the fact that whoever that woman is standing to the left of the couple, she KNEW they were being caught in the act! Watch the clip again and just focus on that woman — her facial reaction is the personification of, “Oh, fuuuuuuudge.” Moving right along, Astronomer issued a second statement that CEO Andy had been put on leave:
Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is currently serving as interim CEO given Andy Bryon has been placed on leave.
We will share more details as appropriate in the coming days.
And then the “coming days” came quickly, with Astronomer confirming they’d let Andy resign as they released a third statement:
As stated previously, 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.
Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.
Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI.
While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.
We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.
And of course, the whole thing gets messier. Interim CEO Pete DeJoy liked a LinkedIn post made by a former Astronomer colleague in which the poster said, “Yes, I’ve laughed at the memes.” Actually, this makes me like DeJoy more. (Also, his bio says he was a cofounder of Astronomer eight years ago; by my calculations, that means he founded the company when he was 12. Look at the baby face of his profile pic!) There have indeed been some glorious memes, my favorite probably being The Phillies’ own take on a Kiss Cam. I won’t say more so as not to spoil your viewing.
But the messiest part continues to be the trysting duo at the center. As of this writing, Kristin has been put on leave, and the internet uncovered that she divorced her first husband in 2022, and is still married to her second husband, another CEO named Andy, who has a rum business. Andy Byron’s wife, for her part, dropped her married name from her Facebook page and then deleted it. Both couples have adolescent and young adult children, so old enough to be online and mortified by what’s going on. If any lessons can be learned from this, well, obviously don’t cheat! And I’d also like to reiterate: no business is worth tanking, nor marriage worth wrecking… over a Coldplay concert.
Phillies debut the “Coldplay Kiss Cam”.
Wait for it… pic.twitter.com/nOxfszINRE
— Jason Martinez (@JasonFox29) July 19, 2025
families may have been divided but the world is united pic.twitter.com/d38kNEMAat
— FearBuck (@FearedBuck) July 20, 2025
