The CEO of New York-based tech company Astronomer resigned Saturday after a viral video of him embracing a colleague at a Coldplay concert ignited widespread online backlash and meme frenzy.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said in a statement posted on LinkedIn.
“Andy Byron has tendered his resignation,” Astronomer confirmed, adding that it had launched an internal investigation prior to his departure.
The scandal began Wednesday during a Coldplay concert in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when the stadium jumbotron captured a man and woman in an affectionate embrace. The pair looked visibly startled as they realized they were being broadcast, with the man quickly ducking out of view and the woman covering her face.
“Uh-oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” joked frontman Chris Martin from the stage.
Within hours, online sleuths identified the man as CEO Andy Byron and alleged the woman was Kristin Cabot, Astronomer’s chief people officer. Social media users quickly speculated about a possible affair between the two high-ranking executives—raising eyebrows given Cabot’s HR role.
The clip racked up millions of views across TikTok, X, and other platforms, spawning a wave of memes and commentary. Many posts mocked the irony of a human resources officer seemingly caught in an inappropriate workplace relationship.
“The craziest thing about the Astronomer CEO cheating scandal is it was the HR lady,” one X user wrote. “The person who would warn you against fraternizing with coworkers.”
The moment even spilled into pop culture. The Philadelphia Phillies’ furry mascots parodied the viral embrace on their jumbotron during a game, amplifying the reach of the incident.
Meanwhile, a widely shared apology attributed to Byron turned out to be fake, originating from a parody account.
