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What started as a seemingly innocent Coldplay concert moment has now spiralled into a global scandal involving viral videos, job suspensions, and unravelling personal lives. Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who was caught on 4K video getting a little too close with a colleague at the show, has become the internet’s newest cautionary tale, with the video viewed by millions and sparking widespread commentary across platforms.
After days of silence and online trolling, including fake apologies and Coldplay fandom jokes, the data infrastructure company finally released an official statement. According to The Guardian, Astronomer confirmed that the actions of Byron and Kristin Cabot, the company’s head of HR and his canoodling partner in the video, “do not align with the company’s values and culture.”
Both Byron and Cabot have since been placed on administrative leave, as reported by Axios, which added that the company’s delayed response may have been tied to ongoing negotiations over Byron’s exit package. The term “slow resignation” was used to describe the situation, perhaps a nod to how long it took before any accountability became public.
The irony hasn’t been lost on anyone: a CEO and head of HR, two of the highest-ranking figures responsible for upholding corporate integrity, embroiled in an office scandal that played out on the global stage. And while Astronomer’s focus is typically data management for major clients like Uber, its internal operations are now under scrutiny for a very different kind of misalignment.
On the personal side, things aren’t looking better for Byron. According to reports, his wife quietly dropped his last name from her Facebook profile shortly after the video went viral, before deactivating her account altogether. While she has yet to make a public statement, the digital trail speaks volumes.
Meanwhile, the woman behind the viral video, TikTok user @instaagraace, has been unapologetic about the attention the clip received. In a recent post, she joked about her role in “breaking the internet, destroying multiple careers, and ruining two marriages,” and even encouraged followers to help her pay off her $80,000 student loan debt, should they feel so inclined. Her closing line: “Hey Andy, pls don’t sue me 🫶🏼.”
Whether Astronomer recovers from this PR disaster remains to be seen. What is clear is that Andy Byron, once a CEO overseeing complex data systems, now finds himself part of an all-too-relatable data point: actions caught on camera can go viral fast, and leave a lasting impact that no resignation package can erase.