Of all the ways a career can end, being outed on the jumbotron at a Coldplay concert while sneaking kisses with your head of HR is… creative, to say the least.
Andy Byron, once the CEO of $1.3 billion AI company, Astronomer, has now become the subject of meme legend and watercooler talk across the country. Honestly, if the board didn’t ask for his resignation, the internet might’ve done it anyway.
So…Byron and Kristin Cabot (his HR chief, mind you) were spotted mid-snuggle at a Coldplay show in Foxborough, MA. The kiss cam caught them, and the panic in their faces was almost Shakespearean. She covered her face. He ducked out of the shot like it was dodgeball.
Even Chris Martin got in on it, joking, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Oh, Chris. If only you knew the storm you were accidentally kicking off.
By the next morning, their identities were unmasked. Two high-ranking execs in a booming AI company. Married but not to each other. The clip blew up online, memes exploded, and within hours, both Byron and Cabot were placed on leave.
By Saturday, Byron had “tendered his resignation,” a corporate euphemism we all now recognize as “we’re kicking you out, but politely, because your contract is hefty.”
The company’s statement was classic PR crisis mode: values, culture, accountability, the usual buzzwords. But what everyone noticed was what it didn’t say. Kristin Cabot’s future? “Unclear.”
Which, in HR speak, probably means she’s about to be quietly shown the door. Because let’s be real: tech might forgive the guy eventually, but HR screwing the CEO? That’s a professional death sentence.
Also, let’s not ignore the timing. Astronomer, which ironically has nothing to do with actual astronomy (still mad about that), had just raised nearly $100 million. This viral mess could’ve derailed a potential IPO.
So, damage control it is.
Byron negotiates an exit, Cabot gets frozen out, and interim CEO Pete DeJoy steps in who, in a cheeky move, even “liked” a post poking fun at the scandal. At least someone at Astronomer has a sense of humor.
But what’s deeply frustrating is the media frenzy this created while actual news, like the assassination of senators, barely got a whisper. As one commenter aptly put it,
“A rich old man’s affair is more important than the crumbling America.”
Welcome to the 2025 attention economy.
The online reactions are absolutely savage.
“Throwback internet,” someone said. “Roasted to every motherf***er on Earth within 8 hours.”
Halloween costume ideas are already being tossed around. Even sports mascots have joined the mockery parade. And perhaps the most biting comment of all:
“To be with another woman, that is French. To be caught, that is American.”
But beyond the jokes, this situation exposes a deeper, rotting issue: the persistent power imbalance in tech. She was HR. He was the CEO. No matter how “mutual” it was, this is exactly why companies hold ethics training. Not for fun. For this.
While he’ll probably bounce back in some other C-suite job (because, of course), her career is likely toast. Because tech, even now, is still very much a bro’s world.
And let me just say, for a company named Astronomer, the biggest thing it discovered this year… was its CEO’s extramarital activities. No telescopes required.
So, what the hell happened here?
Byron and Cabot clearly weren’t thinking with their heads at least not the ones used for business decisions. But the real twist isn’t the affair itself. It’s how fast this blew up, how public it became, and how predictably the company prioritized reputation and investor confidence over transparency.
From their perspective, removing Byron quickly was about protecting the brand. For the rest of us, it’s just more proof that corporate ethics are often performative until the internet makes them unavoidable.
From an everyday human’s view?
This was dumb. Avoidable and not worth four days of national headlines when the world is literally on fire. But here we are. Because scandals sell. Especially when there’s a Coldplay soundtrack behind them.
How to fix this nonsense in 3 steps:
- Don’t make out with coworkers in public, or at all, ideally.
- If you’re in HR, please don’t become the plot twist.
- Media – Maybe balance scandal coverage with, I don’t know, actual important news?
If this story made you pause, raise an eyebrow, or just feel something. That’s the whole point.
But where I really have fun and put my thoughts and opinions out is when I dig up strange, overlooked news from around the world every single day. Not the loud headlines… the stuff that slips through the cracks.
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