For months, Kristin Cabot was known to the world only as “the girl from the Coldplay concert”—the woman caught in a viral, cringing embrace with her then-boss, Andy Byron, at a Boston concert. Now, in a candid and harrowing interview with the New York Times, the former Astronomer executive is revealing the devastating human cost of becoming an internet meme.
The Toll on Her Children
The most painful aspect of the fallout, Cabot shared, was the trauma inflicted on her children. The scandal moved from the digital world to their front door almost instantly.
- Death Threats: Cabot recalled the moment “the wheels fell off the cart” when her children overheard a recording of a death threat she was playing for her mother. “My kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die,” she said.
- Public Harassment: Simple outings became nightmares. At a local town pool, a woman began taking non-consensual photos of Cabot’s daughter. Her daughter, in tears, pleaded: “Please, can we just go?”
- Shaming: Even at her son’s workplace, Cabot was confronted by groups of women who addressed her as “that girl,” attempting to shame her in front of her child.
A Path to Recovery
Despite the intense scrutiny, Cabot says life is slowly stabilizing. Her children have returned to school after working with therapists and are now being treated with kindness by their peers.
In a bold move to reclaim her narrative, Cabot has even started leaving her house wearing a T-shirt that simply says: “Yes It’s Me.”
On her ex-husband: Cabot offered high praise for Massachusetts entrepreneur Andrew Cabot, who clarified during the scandal that the two had been “privately and amicably separated” weeks before the concert. “He has been nothing but a gentleman,” she noted.
Flashback: What Happened at the Concert?
During Coldplay’s set at Gillette Stadium, the band’s “kiss cam” focused on Cabot and Andy Byron (the CEO of the company where she worked) cuddling in the stands.
- Chris Martin’s Reaction: Seeing the duo’s panicked reaction—Cabot hiding her face and Byron ducking—the lead singer joked to the stadium: “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
- The Aftermath: The clip went viral globally, leading to intense speculation about workplace ethics and infidelity, eventually resulting in the duo leaving the company.