CEO Andy Byron allegedly caught cheating at Coldplay and then a fake apology went viral before he even spoke
If you want to know what sheer panic looks like, watch the Coldplay kiss cam footage that allegedly shows CEO Andy Byron embracing Kristin Cabot, his company’s Chief People Officer, in a moment that was definitely not meant for broadcast. For a few seconds, he must have been wondering if anyone else had seen it, if a stranger had filmed it, and if it might somehow end up online, especially if his wife ever came across it.
Cabot, who holds a very senior role responsible for shaping company culture, turned her face away the moment the camera landed on them. Given her title, you can’t help but wonder how she’ll be taken seriously again by staff, especially if this is all true.
But nothing could have prepared them for what followed. The footage went viral. News outlets picked it up. And then, just to make matters worse, a completely fake apology statement began spreading across social media, attributed to Byron himself. It wasn’t real, but it looked real enough for thousands to believe it.
Who is Andy Byron?
Byron is the CEO of Astronomer, a US-based data company that helps businesses structure and utilise complex datasets. It’s well-funded, enterprise-focused, and not the kind of brand most people had heard of until now.
On 16 July, he attended Coldplay’s Boston concert at Gillette Stadium alongside Cabot. The moment they were shown on the kiss cam, Chris Martin remarked, “They’re either having an affair or they’re very shy.” Cabot turned away immediately. Byron physically ducked out of frame.
And from that point on, they became a headline.
The timeline of a uniquely modern disaster
16 July: Byron and Cabot attend Coldplay together
They are filmed looking visibly close and shown on the stadium screen
The video spreads across TikTok, Reddit, news aggregators and social platforms
The next day, a fake apology statement surfaces, written in a dramatic and overworked tone, and falsely attributed to Byron
A second parody statement appears shortly after, mocking his taste in Coldplay albums
Astronomer confirms that the statement is fake. Byron has not commented publicly
What the fake apology said
Styled like a formal press release, the fake statement opened with:
“What was supposed to be a night of music and joy turned into a deeply personal mistake playing out on a very public stage.”
It continued with lines about letting down his wife, family and team. Then, in perhaps the most bizarre part, it included this section:
“I want to express how troubling it is that what should have been a private moment became public without my consent. I respect artists and entertainers, but I hope we can all think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else’s life into a spectacle.”
It closed with a Coldplay lyric: “Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.”
It was clearly fake, but the combination of polished formatting, real-world context and emotionally clumsy phrasing made it oddly believable. Most people weren’t invested enough to fact-check it. The statement was reshared by large social media accounts and quoted in multiple news articles, which only cemented the assumption that it must be real.
Once something is reposted enough times, people stop questioning it.
What should actually be happening behind the scenes?
Byron has said nothing so far, which is the correct move. But silence without strategy is not enough. Behind the scenes, this is both a personal crisis and a reputational nightmare.
If the relationship is real, and both individuals hold senior positions, it presents serious questions for Astronomer’s HR and leadership culture. This is no longer about the incident. It’s about company conduct.
Astronomer now needs to:
Review workplace policies and assess whether any were breached
Consider whether either individual can continue in their current position
Communicate carefully with employees to avoid confusion or resentment
Proactively speak to clients and investors if concerns arise about leadership credibility
And all of that is before anyone even opens their inbox.
The internal chaos will be extreme
Having worked in plenty of office environments myself, I can say with confidence that the gossip will be feral. At two of my previous jobs, I witnessed affairs between senior colleagues. They weren’t caught on camera (Christmas party for us), and they never became tabloid stories, but even then they were the talk of the building.
In one company, the entire head office would speak about it every time the pair wasn’t in the room. And when they entered, eyes followed them across the floor. I saw it again in another firm. Both times, it became the default topic at lunch, in corridor chats, and after work drinks.
Now imagine that same dynamic, except the affair is exposed on a stadium screen, name-dropped by Chris Martin, and broadcast online.
Slack channels will be blowing up. Private group chats will be flooded. Anyone who was at the concert will be telling their version of events. Employees will be fielding messages from friends and family saying, “Have you seen this? What’s going on?” They will feel genuinely sorry for the people hurt by it, but many will be finding the situation hilarious. And in some cases, understandably so. When your boss is outed in a Coldplay meme, it probably doesn’t feel real.
Byron’s authority as CEO has taken a hit. So has Cabot’s credibility in the role of Chief People Officer. Both of them are now walking back into an office full of people who’ve seen the footage and read the false apology. That’s not something a comms memo can fix.
Just picture it for a second. You’re caught on camera. Chris Martin from Coldplay makes a joke that you’re having an affair, and by all reports, you were. The clip goes viral. It trends on social media. And then you have to go back to the office and act like it’s just another Tuesday. What an excruciatingly embarrassing moment. If they ever do return, it’ll be the most awkward walk back to your desk in modern workplace history.
So what happens when a fake statement comes first?
The strangest part of this story is that someone else told Byron’s story before he did. A fake statement filled the silence, and for many people, it became the accepted version. It’s quite unique for a fake statement to go so viral.
That presents a problem. Do you correct it? Or ignore it and hope it fades?
In most cases, the best strategy is to leave it alone. Unless it causes actual harm or starts appearing in serious outlets as fact, correcting it only gives it oxygen. Many fake quotes lose traction within days. Once people start commenting “this isn’t real,” the algorithm moves on.
If Byron ever does issue a real statement, the good news is that expectations are low. He just needs to sound like a functioning human, avoid lyrics, and refrain from blaming Coldplay for filming him. The fake version already did that, so anything even slightly more reasonable will seem like an improvement.
Being caught in an affair is one thing. Being caught in an affair, on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, addressed by the band live on stage, filmed by strangers, parodied by the internet, and then fake-apologised on your behalf, that is something else entirely.
This is one of the most surreal, uniquely modern PR disasters we’ve seen in years. And it proves something every public figure should understand. Silence might seem safe, but in the age of parody and virality, it doesn’t protect you. It just gives other people more time to invent your version for you. The positive is, no matter what statement you’d put out to follow, it would be an improvement.