Ex-Astronomer HR exec Kristin Cabot finally breaks silence on Coldplay kiss cam scandal: ‘Bad decision’
Kristin Cabot has finally broken her silence after she and her former boss Andy Byron went viral for getting caught canoodling on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert over the summer.
Cabot, 53, debated speaking publicly about the scandal but eventually agreed to do an interview with The New York Times for an article published Thursday.
She insisted to the newspaper that she was not in a sexual relationship with Byron, claiming that before that night, they had never even kissed.
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she explained, making sure to note that “it’s not nothing.”
Kristin Cabot has finally broken her silence after she and her former boss Andy Byron went viral for getting caught canoodling on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert over the summer. Maud Cabot/Facebook
Cabot, 53, debated speaking publicly about the scandal but eventually agreed to do an interview with The New York Times for an article published Thursday. kristinthornby/linkedin
However, she feels she “took accountability” and “gave up [her] career” for the ordeal.
“That’s the price I chose to pay,” she said. “I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up, but you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.”
Cabot said she and Byron “clicked, stylistically,” when she interviewed to work for Astronomer in the summer of 2024. Soon after she was hired that November, she and Byron started speaking every day, sometimes three times a day.
In the spring, Cabot, a then-HR exec, claimed she and Byron, the then-CEO, bonded over both “going through” separations, which “sort of strengthened [their] connection.”
She quickly developed “big feelings” and started fantasizing about the romantic possibilities but knew she couldn’t “get too carried away” given their professional dynamic.
She told the Times that by the time she invited Byron to the Boston Coldplay concert in July as her plus-one, she had a full-blown “crush.” However, it wasn’t a proper date, as they were with a group of her close friends.
Cabot admitted that she and Byron each had a couple of tequila cocktails, and as the concert went on, they began to look like a couple. Byron was dancing behind Cabot when she took his hands and wrapped his arms around her, she said.
That’s when the camera panned to them, and they were shown on the big screen in an intimate embrace.
“Whoa, look at these two,” frontman Chris Martin exclaimed into the mic.
She insisted to the newspaper that she was not in a sexual relationship with Byron, claiming that before that night, they had never even kissed. Astronomer/YouTube
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she explained, making sure to note that “it’s not nothing.” Grace Springer via Storyful
However, once the pair noticed they were on the big screen, Byron let out a “f–king hell, it’s me” and immediately ducked out of view, while Cabot, who acknowledged that “this is awkward,” hid her face in embarrassment.
“Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy,” Martin joked as the audience erupted in laughter, with videos of the moment immediately spreading like wildfire online.
“I was so embarrassed and so horrified,” Cabot told the Times. “I’m the head of HR, and he’s the CEO. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad.”
She said she and Byron immediately drafted an email to Astronomer’s Board of Directors, but by the time they hit “send,” the footage was everywhere.
The board then launched an investigation into the matter, which resulted in both Byron and Cabot — who were both technically married at the time — being placed on leave.
However, she feels she “took accountability” and “gave up [her] career” for the ordeal. Grace Springer via Storyful
“That’s the price I chose to pay,” she said. “I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up, but you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.” Getty Images
The former resigned the next day, while his direct report followed suit less than a week later, though she claimed to the Times that the board had actually asked her to return to her role.
In September, Cabot’s estranged husband, CEO of Privateer Rum Andrew Cabot, revealed they “were privately and amicably separated several weeks before the Coldplay concert.”
She filed for divorce in mid-August.
It’s unclear where Byron and his wife, Megan Kerrigan, stand, but she did instantly remove her married name from her Facebook page before deleting her account altogether.
This story is developing…
