CEO Andy Byron resigned from tech company Astronomer amid a controversy set off by a “Kiss Cam” video at a Coldplay show that showed a man hugging a woman and then hiding. The band has stayed mum.
Astronomer CEO resigns after Coldplay concert turns awkward
During a recent Coldplay concert, lead singer Chris Martin unintentionally spotlighted an awkward moment in the crowd that quickly went viral.
Coldplay is pressing pause on any viral concert couple video comments since the footage became one of pop culture’s most buzz-worthy moments of the year.
During the band’s Boston stop on their Music of the Spheres world tour July 16, frontman Chris Martin provided commentary as a concert camera panned to a couple embracing, before the moment quickly went from romantic to uncomfortable. After the pair realized they were on camera, the woman hid her face, and the man ducked down.
“Come on, you’re OK!” Martin, 48, told the couple before quipping: “Uh oh. Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
But on Instagram, despite Martin’s previous onstage jokes, the band stayed mum while posting a Boston concert recap that received over 1 million likes – with no mention of the viral moment. “Show #207, Boston,” the band’s caption read with a montage of photos featuring Martin, the massive crowd and fans. A separate concert recap video also excluded the event.
During his previous onstage concert comments, Martin said that “I hope we didn’t do something bad,” and later, “I’m not quite sure what to do.”
After the concert, New York tech company Astronomer placed CEO Andy Byron on leave during an in-house investigation announced on Friday, July 18, after a Jumbotron video of the couple went viral on social media.
The next day, on July 19, the company posted on social media platform X and on job networking site LinkedIn, that Byron “has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” Astronomer’s statement reads. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
Coldplay, though, is headed to sold-out concerts in Madison, Wisconsin, on July 19, Nashville on July 22 and a July 26-27 stop in Miami before heading back across the pond and wrapping up in London. The tour, which first began in 2022, is currently set to end in September.
Contributing: Michael Loria, Jonathan Limehouse
