Astronomer CEO's Replacement Says Coldplay Kiss Cam Controversy Has Been 'Surreal' but They're 'Moving Forward'
The new interim CEO of Astronomer released a statement in the aftermath of the Coldplay concert kiss cam drama
The drama began after a couple went viral for their reaction to being caught on camera together during a Coldplay concert, leading frontman Chris Martin to joke that they might be having an "affair"
Hours after Astronomer announced that they had "initiated a formal investigation," they announced that CEO Andy Byron had been put on leave — and went on to announce his resignation the following dayThe new interim CEO of Astronomer released a statement addressing the drama surrounding the viral Coldplay concert kiss cam, which resulted in Andy Byron's resignation.
"Over the weekend, I stepped into the role of Interim CEO at Astronomer, a company that I've proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build," Pete DeJoy wrote in a statement shared by the company on Monday, July 21.
"Over the past few years, our business has experienced incredible growth. What was once a mission to help companies with Apache Airflow has turned into so much more," he continued, before going on to address the viral spotlight the company found themselves under over the past week.
"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," he continued without going into additional specifics. "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."
The saga began after a couple went viral for their reaction to being caught on camera together during a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts last week. After apparently realizing that they were on the kiss cam, the woman covered her face as the man ducked down out of sight.
Their reactions prompted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin to joke that they might be having an 'affair' – and the footage quickly blew up online as various online accounts and social media users purported to identify the couple and share details of their personal lives.
In the company' first statement following the public debacle, Astronomer announced that they had "initiated a formal investigation into this matter."
Although the tech company did not explicitly confirm the identities of anybody in the video at the time, they reported that statements made about "other employees" being present at the concert and featured in the video were incorrect.
Just hours later, the tech company confirmed that Byron had been put on leave — and by the next day, the company announced his resignation.
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In his new statement, titled "Moving Forward at Astronomer," DeJoy stressed that the company has "never shied away from challenges."
"From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room. And yet, we're still here," he wrote.
"I'm stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers. Astronomer's foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written," he continued. "To our team: thank you for your resilience & commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won't let you down."
Byron has not responded to PEOPLE's previous messages seeking comment. Efforts to reach the woman in the footage were previously unsuccessful.
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