Astronomer's HR chief resigns after Coldplay 'kiss cam' scandal: A timeline of what's happened since she was caught with CEO in viral video
They were caught canoodling at a Coldplay concert — and now they're out of jobs.
Days after Astronomer announced the resignation of its married chief executive, Andy Byron, who was seen in a viral video with the head of human resources, Kristin Cabot, at the band's performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., the tech startup confirmed Thursday that Cabot is no longer employed with the company.
'Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer,' a company spokesperson said in a statement. 'She has resigned.'
Below is a brief timeline of how we got here, from the viral Coldplay 'kiss cam' moment to the fallout online.
July 16: The viral video
During Coldplay's concert in Foxboro, lead singer Chris Martin has the camera operator scan the crowd for people to appear on the Jumbotron while he improvises song lyrics — a regular part of the band's recent performances.
The camera then turns to the pair, who try to hide themselves when they realize they are being broadcast on the big screen.
"Oh, look at these two,' Martin says. 'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy."
A fan-shot video of the intimate moment explodes when it was posted online, with internet sleuths quickly identifying the man and woman in the clip as Byron and Cabot.
July 18: The fallout begins
Two days after the concert, Astronomer announces that the company's board of directors has launched a 'formal investigation' into the matter, and that Byron has been placed on leave. Pete DeJoy, co-founder and chief product officer, is named interim CEO.
'Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,' the company says in a statement. 'Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability.'
July 19: Byron resigns as CEO
Astronomer announces that Byron has resigned from the company, and that DeJoy will continue to serve as interim CEO until a permanent replacement is found.
The viral video continues to reverberate around the world, which the company acknowledged in its statement announcing Byron's resignation.
'Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI,' the company says. 'While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.'
That night, during Coldplay's first show since the infamous kiss-cam incident, Martin jokingly issues a warning to the crowd.
'We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd,' he says, laughing. 'How we're gonna do that is we're gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. So please, if you haven't done your makeup, do your makeup now.'
July 20: Interim CEO addresses the controversy
In a lengthy statement posted to his LinkedIn page, DeJoy says the New York-based company, which was founded in 2017, is embracing its newfound fame.
'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 writes. '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.'
'We're here because the mission is bigger than any one moment,' he adds. 'And our story is very much still being written.'
July 24: Astromer confirms Cabot's resignation
The company issues a brief statement to multiple media outlets confirming her ouster.
Meanwhile, Coldplay is seeing a surge in interest on streaming platforms.
According to Billboard data cited by the Hollywood Reporter, on-demand audio streams for Coldplay are up 25% since the Gillette Stadium show.
'In the preceding five days before the Boston concert, Coldplay had 28.7 million streams,' the magazine says.
In the five days since, they had 35.7 million.
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