Former Astronomer HR Chief Speaks Out After Viral Coldplay Kiss Cam

Kristin Cabot said that a brief appearance on a stadium video screen last summer ended her career and triggered months of harassment after footage of her embracing her boss, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, at a Coldplay concert spread widely online.

In her first interview since the incident, Cabot told The New York Times that the viral clip, quickly labeled "#coldplaygate," led to her resignation as head of human resources at Astronomer and subjected her to sustained public shaming, threats, and fear for her family's safety.

"I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss," Cabot said. "And it's not nothing. I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That's the price I chose to pay."

The incident occurred July 16 at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, where Cabot attended a Coldplay concert with colleagues and friends.

During the show, the venue's "kiss cam" briefly showed Cabot with Byron, his arms wrapped around her. Both tried to duck out of sight as Coldplay frontman Chris Martin joked from the stage that they might be having an "affair."

Video of the moment spread rapidly across TikTok and other platforms, drawing more than 100 million views within days. Cabot told the Times that she became "a punchline and a target" almost overnight.

In interviews with the U.K. newspaper The Times, Cabot acknowledged that she had been attracted to Byron before the concert.

"I definitely thought he was a good-looking guy and I had that thought of, 'If I didn't work here ...' " she said.

The outlet reported that both Cabot and Byron were in the midst of marital separations at the time of the concert.

"I don't think my separation would have come as a surprise to him, but his definitely did for me," Cabot said. "To have someone else going through it at the exact same time that you can talk to was an amazing support."

Cabot said she and her second husband, Andrew Cabot, were in what she described as an amicable separation when the concert took place.

"My immediate reaction was, 'Holy sh*t, Andrew's here'," she said. "We were in the middle of an incredibly — and amazingly — amicable separation. I was worried I would embarrass him. He's an amazing guy and does not deserve that."

She said concern about her job followed immediately.

"Then a beat later my mind turns to, 'Oh God, Andy's my effing boss', this is a bad look," she said, noting that investors or colleagues could have been present.

As the video circulated, Cabot said the backlash escalated.

She told The New York Times she was labeled "a slut," "a homewrecker," and "a gold digger," and said her appearance was scrutinized.

She was doxxed, received hundreds of phone calls a day, and said paparazzi parked outside her home. She also said she received death threats.

Although the viral attention eventually faded, Cabot said the consequences persisted.

She recalled being recognized weeks later at a gas station, where a stranger told her she was "disgusting" and said, "You don't even deserve to breathe the same air that I breathe."

Cabot said her children became fearful of being seen with her in public.

"They were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die," she said. "That's when the wheels fell off the cart."

Cabot has said she was not in a sexual relationship with Byron and that the concert was the first and only time they kissed.

"I was so embarrassed and so horrified," she said. "I'm the head of HR and he's the CEO. It's, like, so cliché and so bad."

Byron resigned days later. Astronomer said at the time that "our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met."

After an internal investigation, Cabot said the company asked her to return, but she declined and negotiated her resignation, which was announced July 24.

Cabot has since filed for divorce and said her husband has been "nothing but a gentleman."

What she wants now, she said, is understanding rather than absolution.

"I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up," she said. "But you don't have to be threatened to be killed for them."