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Opinion Social media makes us more nosy. Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s ‘scandal’ is a symptom

Even before we had a screen in front of our eyes 24x7, reality shows like Big Brother, Bachelor, and closer home, Big Boss and Splitsvilla, disrupted whatever little understanding we have of the idea of privacy

With footage barely ten seconds long, Byron and Cabot’s personal business — which until a day ago wasn’t even in the knowledge of their respective spouses — had now become everybody’s business.

Trisha Mukherjee

July 19, 2025 02:00 PM IST First published on: Jul 19, 2025 at 01:59 PM IST

Not gonna lie. The news of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his HR chief Kristin Cabot getting caught on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert was refreshingly amusing. Both Byron and Cabot — who frantically hid their faces once the camera turned its lens on them, cosying up — are married, just not to each other. We have always been told that actions have consequences, and it felt strangely satisfying to see it actually play out.

As the day unravelled, social media expectedly blew up with memes, some outrageously hilarious. Sample this: “Coldplay hasn’t made a single in years. Last night, they made two.” Short, smart and great wordplay. Irony died a thousand deaths with this one: “The face you make when 20,000 people witness your HR violation in 4K. Live by the policy, die by the Jumbotron.” And for once, the targets of all the trolling were actually in the wrong (Would that still be called trolling? And is it then justified?).

With footage barely ten seconds long, Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot’s personal business — which until a day ago wasn’t even in the knowledge of their respective spouses — had now become everybody’s business. So much so that netizens have dug up the identity of the visibly embarrassed woman standing next to the pair — Alyssa Stoddard, the newly appointed Vice President at Astronomer — and deduced from her reaction that she was aware of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot’s “affair”.

Social media makes us nosy

It would, however, be unfair to solely put the blame on social media for our nosiness. Even before we had a screen in front of our eyes 24×7, reality shows like Big Brother, Bachelor, and closer home, Big Boss and Splitsvilla, which quite literally had a camera following the contestants inside a “house”, disrupted whatever little understanding we have of the idea of privacy. It no longer felt inappropriate to watch a stranger in their personal space. The viewers, almost unintentionally, transformed into Peeping Toms, and the behaviour was legitimised by TRP ratings.

What social media did was invite participation. The ability to offer your two cents on absolutely anything from the other side of the screen, with no tangible consequences, emboldened our inherent voyeuristic tendencies. Now, people do not hesitate to contribute to and create discourse (or controversy) on any trending topic, irrespective of how qualified they may or may not be to do so. Climate change? Yes. Communal riots? Sure. An actress’ body type? Of course. Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s affair? Why not?

According to the latest findings on what is now being called the “Coldplay kiss cam scandal”, Andy Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan, dropped her last name from her Facebook profile after the jumbotron footage started doing the rounds online. Kristin Cabot, who had apparently known and worked with Alyssa Stoddard at several places, has deleted the latter’s appointment announcement from her LinkedIn account. Byron has allegedly put out a “heartfelt” apology letter to his wife and children online, which was later dismissed by an Astronomer spokesperson as “fake”.

Wait, there’s more. As of this morning, there is already a report speculating that if Andy Byron and his wife were to divorce, it would cost him over $30 million. Cabot’s relationship history has been made public — that she is married to Andrew Cabot, CEO of Privateer Rum, and that she was married previously to Kenneth Thornby, with whom the divorce was finalised in 2022. There’s also a new video of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot “locking lips” before the concert began.

Now imagine it is you getting “caught”, smoking or kissing your date or casually meeting a potential rival employer, in the background of one of the hundreds and thousands of influencer videos that go viral.

trisha.mukherjee@expressindia.com