Former HR exec speaks out over disrupted career after Coldplay kiss cam scandal

Kristin Cabot, the former chief people officer of Astronomer, is struggling to find work after a viral Coldplay kiss cam incident with her married boss, Andy Byron.

In interviews with The New York Times and the UK’s The Times, Cabot, 53, opened up about enduring public shaming, harassment, and threats following the viral incident, saying the episode has overshadowed her professional accomplishments. 

“It has been like a scarlet letter; people erased everything I’d accomplished in my life and achieved in my career. This can’t be the final word,” she told The Times.

Cabot joined Astronomer in November 2024 and, after an internal investigation cleared her of wrongdoing, the company asked her to return. She declined and negotiated her resignation instead. 

“I could not imagine how I could stand up as HR chief when I was a laughingstock,” she said.

The incident unfolded at a July 16 Coldplay show in Foxboro, Massachusetts, when Byron and Cabot were caught on the stadium’s kiss cam, which led to jokes from Chris Martin about an alleged affair when they suspiciously tried to hide. 

Cabot says contact with Byron, who also left the company after the incident, has been minimal since September.

Cabot, who was in the midst of divorcing her husband at the time, said the kiss was the only one she shared with Byron. She added that she has been repeatedly told she is “unemployable” since the scandal, despite her decades-long career.

“If it hadn’t turned into what it did online, I could have stood up and said, ‘I’m committed to this place,’” she said. “I’m not done yet.”