New Delhi: Kristin Cabot, the former human resources executive at tech firm Astronomer, has finally spoken publicly about the viral Coldplay concert incident that upended her professional and personal life. In candid interviews with The New York Times and The Times of London, Cabot described the episode — in which she was caught on the stadium jumbotron in a close embrace with her then-boss and Astronomer CEO Andy Byron — as a “bad decision” for which she has paid a heavy price.
The incident occurred in July during a Coldplay concert and quickly spiralled into a social media storm. The footage triggered intense public scrutiny, ultimately leading to Cabot’s resignation from Astronomer and divorce proceedings. Byron also stepped down as CEO in the aftermath.
Podczas koncertu zespołu Coldplay, "Kiss Cam" nieoczekiwanie stało się narzędziem do ujawnienia rzekomego romansu.
— MNFPL (@musicnewsfactpl) July 17, 2025
Kamera pokazała Andy'ego Byrona, dyrektora generalnego firmy Astronomer, w objęciach Kristin Cabot, szefowej działu HR. pic.twitter.com/HzhO2nXxo4
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” Cabot told The New York Times. “I took accountability, and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”
Cabot, a 53-year-old mother of two from New Hampshire, said the moment was deeply embarrassing but insisted it should not define her entire life. She revealed that she had a “big happy crush” on Byron and that the concert marked their first and only kiss. Both were separated from their spouses at the time.
Despite that, Cabot said the fallout was severe. She faced online harassment, abuse and even death threats, with strangers branding her a “homewrecker” and a “gold digger”. “It has been like a scarlet letter,” she told The Times of London. “People erased everything I’d accomplished in my life and achieved in my career. This can’t be the final word.”
Reflecting on the moment captured on camera, Cabot said she felt anonymous in a crowd of nearly 60,000 people until she suddenly saw herself on the big screen. “We were sitting at the back of the stadium in the pitch black, just dancing and having fun,” she recalled. “Then suddenly I saw us on screen and thought, ‘Oh God, Andy’s my boss. This is a bad look.’”
She also expressed concern about her former partner seeing the footage, saying they were in the middle of an amicable separation and she did not want to embarrass him.
Cabot believes the backlash was harsher because she is a woman. “As women always do, I took the bulk of the abuse,” she said, adding that allegations she had “slept her way to the top” were deeply hurtful. She described years of professional sacrifices and the sexism she had faced in corporate spaces, saying the public narrative ignored her achievements entirely.
Byron, who also resigned, has since faced criticism from former employees, some of whom reportedly described him as a “toxic boss”. However, Cabot maintains that the public focus overwhelmingly targeted her.
Now largely out of the public eye, Cabot said she hopes her experience will teach her children an important lesson — that mistakes happen, and a single error should not define a person’s worth.