The internet erupted this week after a couple went viral following their reaction to being caught on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert — and it turns out the so-called couple were each married to other people and employed by the same tech company, Astronomer. The moment has since spawned media coverage, countless reactions and recreations from ESPN, sports teams, celebrities and more.
What is the Astronomer cheating scandal?
First things first: CEO Andy Byron and head of HR Kristin Cabot were at a Coldplay concert when they were caught embracing on the so-called kiss cam. The initial video likely would not have gained too much attention except Cabot and Byron each had huge reactions to being spotted — Cabot threw her hands up over her face and turned away while Byron quickly ducked out the frame.
“Oh what?” Coldplay’s singer Chris Martin said from the stage as he noticed the odd reactions. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
It turns out the answer was the former.
The video was shared on TikTok and soon hundreds, if not thousands, of online sleuths were searching for answers. By Friday both Cabot and Byron had been placed on leave by Astronomer.
What Astronomer said about the cheating scandal
Astronomer announced Saturday that Byron has resigned while Cabot was still on leave from the company.
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. 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 shared by CBS News.
The company named co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy as interim CEO. Both Byron and Cabot deleted their LinkedIn profiles following the incident.
What people are saying about the Astronomer cheating scandal
The scandal naturally inspired plenty of reactions. On Friday ESPN “SportsCenter” anchors Gary Striewski and Randy Scott offered their own version of the video during the show’s opening:
Plenty of sports teams also took full advantage of the virality of the scandal at their subsequent games:
And there have been memes galore making fun of what went down, but in the style of shows like “The Sopranos” and “Succession.”
