Coldplay frontman Chris Martin has issued a warning to fans after a former CEO was seen embracing his co-worker on the kiss cam at one of the band’s recent concerts
Coldplay’s lead singer Chris Martin has cautioned concert-goers that they might find themselves displayed on giant screens at their performances, following the incident where former Astronomer chief executive Andy Byron was spotted embracing his colleague during the band’s kiss cam segment.
Video footage captured Byron, who is wed, alongside the firm’s recently appointed head of human resources Kristin Cabot attempting to conceal themselves after appearing on a large screen during the Massachusetts concert on July 16. A Coldplay supporter posted the clip on TikTok, with numerous viewers swiftly identifying Byron as the gentleman caught by the kiss cam.
During the band’s return performance on Saturday, July 19, at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, Martin alerted audience members they could potentially appear on the jumbotron. His announcement coincided with Byron stepping down from his position at the technology company after the clip became viral.
Martin announced: “We’d like to say hello to some of you in the crowd and put some of you on the big screen. How we’re going to do that is we’re going to use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen.”
Following a chuckle, he quipped: “Please, if you haven’t done your makeup, do your makeup now!” The singer made no reference to the Byron kiss cam controversy during his remarks, reports the Mirror US.
Byron, who is married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, was filmed with his arms around Cabot. Upon realising they were being broadcast on screen, Cabot turned away whilst covering her face, as Byron quickly moved out of the camera’s range.
Martin appeared baffled by their behaviour and remarked, “Whoa, look at these two. Alright, come on. You’re OK! Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure what to do.”
Martin then continued, “Holy s—. I hope we didn’t do something bad.”
Throughout the remainder of the kiss cam segment, Martin attempted to lighten the mood by questioning another couple featured whether they were “a legitimate couple.”
On Friday, Astronomer confirmed it was looking into the incident. Byron was initially placed on temporary leave before the company revealed on Saturday that he had stepped down from his position.
In announcing the development, Astronomer released a statement on LinkedIn saying, “As stated previously, 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. Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
The statement went on, “The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO. 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 statement concluded, “While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.”