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Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot allegedly caught having ‘affair’ on kiss cam at Coldplay concert

A tech CEO and his alleged HR-chief ‘mistress’ ducked when a Coldplay concert jumbotron caught them canoodling with Chris Martin quipping they were “either having an affair or very shy.”

Now they gotta face the music.

A “kiss cam” moment broadcast at a Coldplay concert struck a scandalous note when it apparently exposed a cheating tech tycoon and his head-of-HR mistress — as the band’s frontman, Chris Martin, mused that they must be “having an affair.”

The couple — identified as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the firm’s chief human resources officer, Kristin Cabot — scrambled to hide their faces when they were caught on the jumbotron canoodling at Gillette Stadium near Boston on Wednesday night.

Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were caught canoodling on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, Picture: TikTok
Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were caught canoodling on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, Picture: TikTok

As the camera panned toward them, Byron had his arms around Cabot’s chest, with her fingers intertwined with his.

They quickly realised they were on the screen prompting Cabot to fling her hands over her face and quickly turn around while Byron ducked down out of view.

At first, Martin thought the camera had captured a sweet moment. “Look at these two,” he said tenderly.

But their reaction quickly left him confused.

“Oh, what?” Martin can be heard saying on stage, according to a TikTok video. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

“Holy sh-t. I hope we didn’t do something bad,” he said, according to additional footage taken right after.

Kristin Cabot human resources officer at AI-centric New York firm Astronomer. Picture: LinkedIn
Kristin Cabot human resources officer at AI-centric New York firm Astronomer. Picture: LinkedIn

Byron joined Astronomer — an AI software company — as CEO in July 2023, according to his LinkedIn page, which was taken down by Thursday afternoon.

The pair appear to work closely together at the company which is valued at about A$1.85 billion.

When Cabot was hired in November of last year, Byron gushed about her 20 years of HR experience and “exceptional leadership” skills.

Meanwhile, Cabot said her conversations with Byron before her hiring had “energised” her.

Byron appears to be married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, while Cabot recently divorced her husband, Kenneth Thornby.

Andy Byron CEO of Astronomer. Picture: Astronomer
Andy Byron CEO of Astronomer. Picture: Astronomer

Cabot and Thornby filed for divorce in 2018 and the split was finalised in 2022, according to Massachusetts court records. It’s unclear if she has since remarried.

The former couple had at least one child, with Thornby being made to pay Cabot a lump child support payment.

Since the pair were skyrocketed to internet infamy, the camera-shy Astronomer chief has allegedly been outed as a “toxic” boss — and former employees are “laughing their ass off” at the news, a former colleague exclusively told The Post.

The incident sparked chatter among his former colleagues – with many claiming that Byron got his rightful comeuppance, according to a source who used to report directly to Byron.

“The text groups and chains of former employees are like…everybody’s laughing their ass off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed,” the source said.

In the workplace, Byron allegedly has a reputation as an aggressive, sales-obsessed executive who can be “toxic”, the source added.

Chris Martin from Coldplay didn’t know what to do. Picture: Jonathan Ng
Chris Martin from Coldplay didn’t know what to do. Picture: Jonathan Ng

Observers Thursday were quick to point out she needs a lesson from her own HR handbook.

“Cost of a concert: Hotel $200, tickets $600, food/drinks $150, divorce attorney $50,000. Getting exposed by Coldplay having an affair with your co-worker: priceless,” wrote Instagram user Trustfundterry.

One X user claimed that Byron’s wife had dropped her married name from her Facebook profile, and didn’t restrict people from making comments.

The page was quickly bombarded with users reacting to the Coldplay concert clip before she deleted her profile.

A video uploaded on TikTok by user “Instaagraace” has received several million views and more than 1.3 million likes as of Thursday morning.

TikTok users pounced on the video as proof that the pair were having an affair.

“There is no plausible reason why they would act that way unless they were having an affair. Period. Can’t convince me otherwise,” one user wrote.

Another user mused: “If I saw my husband cuddled up with his mistress at the COLDPLAY CONCERT I would actually be sent to the psych ward.”

Astronomer, Byron and Cabot have yet to respond to The Post’s requests for comment on the situation.

Astronomer closed a $93 million fundraising round in May with backing from Bain Capital, Salesforce and other notable firms.

The company said it would use the money to “expedite research and development and to strategically expand the company’s international presence,” according to a press release.

This story originally appeared in The New York Post.

Originally published as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot allegedly caught having ‘affair’ on kiss cam at Coldplay concert

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Original URL: https://www.ntnews.com.au/news/world/north-america/astronomer-ceo-andy-byron-and-hr-chief-kristin-cabot-allegedly-caught-having-affair-on-kiss-cam-at-coldplay-concert/news-story/51312eaa70291214fcb251a93041d52a