Following a video of him hugging a purported coworker at a Coldplay concert that went viral and sparked endless memes, the CEO of Astronomer tech company resigned on Saturday.
In a statement posted to LinkedIn, New York-based Astronomer stated, “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.” After initially opening an investigation, the firm announced that Andy Byron had submitted his resignation.
The jumbotron at a Coldplay show in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Wednesday focused on a man and a woman cuddling in the bleachers. However, when the canoodling couple saw themselves on the big screen, they looked shocked and appalled, with the woman covering her face and the man scuttling out of frame.
“Uh-oh, what? Chris Martin, the frontman of Coldplay, joked, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,”
Internet detectives quickly identified the man as Andy Byron, the CEO of Astronomer, and claimed that the woman was Kristin Cabot, the company’s chief people officer
They also claimed that the two were having an affair that was not so discreet. On TikTok and other social media, the video has received millions of views, sparking memes that cover everything from the foolishness of having an affair at a Coldplay show to the hypocrisy of an HR representative who appears to be involved in a romantic relationship at work.
One X user commented, ““The craziest thing about the Astronomer CEO cheating scandal is it was the HR lady.” “The person who would warn you against fraternising with coworkers.”
After the video went viral, the Philadelphia Phillies Major League Baseball team’s furry mascots jumped on the trend and recreated the scene for the jumbotron at a game.
However, Byron’s purported apology statement, which went viral online, was phony and seemed to have come from a parody account.
