Tech Company CEO Resigns after Controversy over Video Captured at Coldplay Concert
Andy Byron resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer Inc., according to a statement posted on LinkedIn by the company Saturday.
'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,' the company said in its post on LinkedIn.
The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been placed on leave and the board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which went viral. A company spokesman later confirmed in a statement to AP that it was Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot in the video.
The short video clip shows Byron and Cabot as captured on the jumbotron at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, during a Coldplay concert on Wednesday.
Lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his 'Jumbotron Song,' when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on.
'Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy,' he joked.
Internet sleuths identified the man as the chief executive officer of a U.S.-based company and the woman as its chief people officer.
Pete DeJoy, Astronomer's cofounder and chief product officer, has been tapped as interim CEO while the company conducts a search for Byron's successor.
Most concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed
It's easy to miss, but most concert venues have signs informing the audience that they could be filmed during the event. Look for them on the walls when you arrive and around the bar areas or toilets. It's common practice especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films.
The venue in this case, Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, also has a privacy policy online which states: 'When you visit our location or attend or participate in an event at our location, we may capture your image, voice and/or likeness, including through the use of CCTV cameras and/or when we film or photograph you in a public location.'
Once captured, a moment can be shared widely
'They probably would have got away with it if they hadn't reacted,' said Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York University's Stern School of Business. And by the time the alleged identities emerged on social media, it hit a classic nerve around 'leaders acting like the rules don't apply to them,' she added.
Still, Taylor and others stress how quickly such a video lead to an internet search to find the people involved — and note that it's important to remember that such 'doxing' isn't just reserved for famous people. Beyond someone simply spotting a familiar face and spreading the word, technological advances, such as the rising adoption of artificial intelligence, has made it easier and faster overall to find just about anyone in a viral video today.
'It's a little bit unsettling how easily we can be identified with biometrics, how our faces are online, how social media can track us — and how the internet has gone from being a place of interaction, to a gigantic surveillance system,' said Mary Angela Bock, an associate professor in the University of Texas at Austin's School of Journalism and Media. 'When you think about it, we are being surveilled by our social media. They're tracking us in exchange for entertaining us.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Nikkei Asia
an hour ago
- Nikkei Asia
Expo crowds lift Osaka hotel rates 30%-40%, with further rise expected
Visitors to the World Expo 2025 in Osaka are only expected to rise, pushing up accommodation prices. (Photo by Arisa Moriyama) KATSUYUKI TANIMOTO and KEITA SHIMODA OSAKA -- Hotel rates in Osaka are climbing as visitors to the World Expo 2025 drive up demand, with room prices likely to stay high through the rest of summer as attendance is expected to keep rising. The average daily rate for major hotels in Osaka prefecture last month was 21,201 yen ($145 at current rates), a 31% gain on the year, according to STR, a unit of U.S.-based commercial property data analytics firm CoStar Group. The jump was steeper than increases elsewhere, including 4.2% in Tokyo and the 7.2% national average.
Yomiuri Shimbun
5 hours ago
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Increased Imports of U.S. Rice Likely to Have Limited Impact in Japan; Aircraft Agreement, LNG Project May Cause Issues
The outline of the Japan-U.S. trade and investment agreement announced Wednesday by the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump included key U.S. demands such as increased imports of U.S. rice and other agricultural products and the purchase of about 100 commercial aircraft. Questions have been raised about the feasibility of some elements of the deal, such as a proposed joint project on Alaskan liquefied natural gas. Imports of U.S. rice were a major focus during the bilateral negotiations. Japan annually imports 770,000 tons of rice tariff-free under a 'minimum access' framework. Tokyo and Washington have agreed the proportion of these imports allocated to U.S. rice will be expanded by 75%. 'The total rice import quota won't increase,' Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Minister Shinjiro Koizumi told reporters Thursday. 'During the negotiations, we achieved our goal of keeping the quota at its current level.' Koizumi insisted the impact of the deal on domestic rice farmers would be imported 346,000 tons of U.S.-grown rice under the minimum access framework in fiscal 2024, accounting for 45% of the quota. Boosting the U.S. share by 75% would lift the volume of tariff-free U.S. rice imports to about 600,000 tons, or almost 80% of the total. If realized, imports of rice from Thailand, Australia, China and other nations would be reduced and the framework would be heavily tilted in favor of the United States. As things stand, 670,000 tons of the rice imported under the framework is used as animal feed or for processing. If the proportion of rice set aside for these two uses stays unchanged even after imports of U.S. tariff-free rice are increased, the impact on consumers is likely to be small. Japan will also purchase $8 billion (about ¥1.2 trillion) in U.S. agricultural products including corn, soybeans and fertilizer. Japan's imports from the United States in 2024 included about ¥459.3 billion worth of corn and about ¥187.6 billion worth of soybeans. It may be challenging to increase the imports from the current level. The imported corn is expected to be used for feed as well as fuels such as bioethanol, and some in the government view achieving the increase as not difficult. 'Increasing these imports won't present any problem,' a senior Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries Ministry official told The Yomiuri Shimbun. 100 aircraft The Trump administration also leaned on the Japanese government to purchase about 100 commercial aircraft manufactured by Boeing Co. Major Japanese airlines will be paying close attention. Airline companies have been increasing orders for aircraft as they boost international and domestic routes due to the growth in inbound tourism and other factors. In the past two years or so, three of Japan's major airlines have announced plans to purchase a total of about 100 aircraft. A large aircraft has a price tag of tens of billions of yen. Airlines must carefully consider aircraft purchases while taking into account the fact that some have a service life of about 20 years. If airlines are forced to order more aircraft than they need in the years ahead to uphold the Japan-U.S. agreement, there are concerns that profits could deteriorate. In some cases, an aircraft accident or fault can result in an airline grounding and being unable to use any of that model of aircraft while they are inspected. To mitigate this risk, airlines also possess planes made by Europe's Airbus SE and other manufacturers. However, this balance could be upset if orders become heavily skewed toward Boeing. Some observers have also pointed out that Boeing's production capacity might not be able to keep up with a surge in orders arising from the agreement. Alaska LNG project The Alaska LNG project will involve building a massive new pipeline stretching about 1,300 kilometers from the state's north down to its Pacific coast in the south. Once completed, this pipeline project is forecast to export 20 million tons of LNG per year, equivalent to 30% of Japan's annual demand. If the pipeline becomes a reality, LNG could be shipped from Alaska to Japan in about eight days, about half the time it takes LNG from the Middle East to reach Japan. This project also offers the advantage of diversifying Japan's LNG suppliers. 'The route doesn't pass through any areas with geopolitical risks,' said Yukio Kani, chair of JERA Co., Japan's largest power generation company. 'It's a fantastic concept.' The biggest challenge facing this project is the cost. The pipeline will need to navigate three mountain ranges and 800 rivers and streams, and development is projected to cost about $44 billion (about ¥6.4 trillion). One official at a major power generation company was apprehensive about the pipeline project. 'The project will need to gain the understanding of locals concerned about its impact on the environment. The risks are too high,' the official said.
The Diplomat
7 hours ago
- The Diplomat
International Labor Standards: The Missing Link in China-US Trade Negotiations
The China-U.S. trade war is often reduced to a dispute over cheap exports, but the real fault line runs deeper. China has built a powerful industrial strategy on the backs of low-cost labor and state-backed incentives, successfully attracting advanced multinationals and bringing their technology and supply chain resources into the country. While the United States outsourced its basic manufacturing, China turned so-called 'low-end' jobs into a launchpad for dominating high-value industries. This strategy has worked. BYD, once a low-tier battery maker, is now a top global electric vehicle manufacturer, beating Tesla in worldwide EV sales. Apple, for its part, poured billions into China – not just in assembly lines, but in R&D. As journalist Peter McGee documented in 'Apple and the Transformation of Chinese Manufacturing,' Apple's strict quality and engineering standards forced Chinese suppliers to level up. What began as low-cost outsourcing became a sophisticated, self-reinforcing innovation engine. This has become a key driver of innovation and global competitiveness in China's manufacturing sector. As the Chinese government aligned its labor policies with the profit motives of U.S. corporations, Washington debated tariffs. All this while, companies continue to rely on China's cheap labor to meet shareholder demands. China, in turn, gained leverage: any disruption to this arrangement would threaten the survival of many global brands. This entanglement has become so tight that it indirectly but powerfully shapes U.S. policy toward China, through the commercial interests and logistical dependence of American companies operating in China. But there's a darker cost buried in the foundations of this success. For over two decades, China Labor Watch has uncovered systemic labor issues in the supply chains of major U.S. and global brands operating in China. These are not isolated incidents, but are structural features of a model that exploits rural migrant workers, tolerates weak enforcement of labor laws, and prohibits independent unions. Global companies continue to profit from it. This exploitation does not just serve short-term commercial interests. It underpins China's ambitious vision of the 'great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation' and advancing its global hegemonic strategy of technological dominance and leadership. Even as parts of manufacturing move to Southeast Asia, those operations remain closely tethered to Chinese supply chains. The low-cost advantage remains China's unshakable core. If the U.S. wants to reduce its dependency and rebalance trade on fairer terms, it cannot ignore the labor question. It must confront China's labor governance head-on – even if doing so challenges American business interests in the short term. The Chinese government, for all its claims in its Constitution and the Communist Party's charter that China is a 'socialist state' that is 'led by the working class,' has built its economic ascent on the backs of exploited workers. While it publicly touts its commitment to workers' well-being, it has never admitted to the systemic nature of labor violations. Instead, the party-state continues to sidestep the issue through an official narrative of 'striving for workers' well-being,' and blame is deflected to multinational corporations. Many Chinese citizens, including some government officials, genuinely believe that the CCP's system can improve workers' lives. The structural roots of labor exploitation, inherent in the party's governance and economic model, are obscured. Labor rights activism thus becomes a sore subject for the government. To them, it is not just about a call for better wages or working conditions, but a direct challenge to the CCP's self-image. It exposes the ideological gulf between its promises and the lived experience of Chinese workers. If party leaders deny the existence of labor exploitation, they are telling an outright lie that will anger many workers; if they address the issue, it legitimizes that reality is at odds with the CCP's charter. This is precisely why labor advocates are treated with suspicion and often repression – but also some degree of caution. During the 2015 '709 Crackdown,' China jailed dozens of human rights lawyers, but took a softer approach with labor activists, quietly releasing them or assigning them jobs after detention to avoid international attention further escalating the issue. The goal was clear: to suppress attention and not provoke an international firestorm. A similar pattern played out in 2025, when Brazil sued BYD for alleged forced labor. Instead of lashing out at international critics, as it often does in response to human rights issues, China responded discreetly and promised an investigation. These examples reflect the nuance and sensitivity that the government applies to labor issues, as compared to human rights issues that it often rebuts. This different approach underscores the potential for labor issues to compel government action and, in turn, how international labor standards can be used as a tool for change. In other words, for the Chinese government, labor conditions resonate where abstract human rights appeals do not. From factory workers to office employees, the majority of China's workforce faces long hours, low wages, and little social protection. Labor violations aren't theoretical; they are everyday realities that could fuel domestic pressure and policy reform if exposed. Tools to address these problems already exist. In the United States, the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA) and Section 307 of the Tariff Act have led to meaningful enforcement actions, even if many Uyghur workers are rarely found in primary factories supplying to the U.S. In the future, as additions to the UFLPA entity list are expected to slow, U.S. enforcement could shift toward broader supply chain interventions through the Withhold Release Orders (WROs), further expanding to address forced labor issues in supply chains, using enforcement to promote fairer labor standards. Yet despite the tools at Washington's disposal, labor concerns remain sidelined in mainstream trade discussions, drowned out by debates over tariffs, trade deficits, and subsidies. These traditional tools have struggled to move the needle on Chinese economic policy, which is largely built upon China's persistent low labor cost advantage. Labor, by contrast, is a pressure point the Chinese government is less prepared to resist, precisely because it implicates both the CCP's legitimacy and its economic model. Labor issues directly affect the immediate interests of the Chinese people, which concerns the government, and international labor standards can thus serve as an effective mechanism to expose the deeply rooted structural flaws in China's governance model. This is the moment for the United States and its allies in Europe to unite around labor standards as a strategic pillar of trade policy. As China-EU tensions continue to simmer, a coordinated, transatlantic approach, through shared standards, trade mechanisms, and enforcement frameworks, could significantly increase leverage over China's labor practices. This strategy not only advances sustainable global supply chains but also balances immediate commercial interests with long-term labor equity, benefiting workers in both the United States and China. Yes, there will be obstacles: political division among allies, corporate resistance, and China's likely counterattacks. But the stakes are too high to ignore. Fair labor standards not only strengthen global supply chains; they offer a pathway to a more just global economy, one where competitiveness does not rely on exploitation. Reshaping the rules of global trade will require more than rhetoric. It will require placing workers – American, Chinese, and others – at the center of policy. And that begins with recognizing that labor is not a side issue. It is the issue.
