Amid the media frenzy sparked by the recent Coldplay concert kiss cam controversy, data company Astronomer has found an unexpected way to handle the spotlight, by bringing in none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, as a “very temporary” spokesperson. The Oscar-winning actress appears in a new promotional video posted on X, where she calmly introduces herself: “Hi, I’m Gwyneth Paltrow. I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300+ employees at Astronomer.” The unexpected cameo comes just days after Astronomer’s CEO Andy Byron and HR head Kristin Cabot resigned following a viral kiss cam moment at a Coldplay concert, a clip that quickly made its way around the Internet and triggered intense public scrutiny. In the video, Paltrow says the company has been flooded with questions and is now aiming to clear the air: “Astronomer has received a lot of questions over the last few days, and they wanted to answer the most common ones.” But it's not just damage control. Paltrow also uses the moment to spotlight the company's latest innovations in AI and data, and even plugs their upcoming Beyond Analytics conference in September. In a lighter moment, she acknowledges the team’s resilience with a cheeky nod to the company’s social media crew. The clip ends with her saying, “Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.” Watch the video: Thank you for your interest in Astronomer. pic.twitter.com/WtxEegbAMY — Astronomer (@astronomerio) July 25, 2025 What is the Astronomer controversy? Astronomer suddenly found itself in the spotlight, not for its data tools, but because of a viral moment involving its former top brass. At the centre of the drama are ex-CEO Andy Byron and former Head of People Kristin Cabot, whose brief appearance on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert sparked a flurry of speculation. The clip shows the two looking unusually close, only to quickly pull away when the camera landed on them. Martin, who noticed the awkward moment in real-time, quipped to the crowd that “either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” That line only added fuel to the already swirling rumours of a possible affair. What made the situation more controversial is that both Byron and Cabot are married—he to Megan Kerrigan, and she to Andrew Cabot, heir to a prominent Boston family and owner of Privateer Rum. As the video circulated widely, Astronomer responded by placing both executives on leave while launching an internal investigation. Byron soon resigned from his role, and Cabot followed with her own exit days later. In the words of the interim CEO, Astronomer has now “become a household name”, though certainly not in the way the company intended. Reacting to the Paltrow ad, a user wrote, “I want to know what prompt you used on what system to come up with this PR response because chef's kiss.” Another user said, “Guys this is a PR masterclass. You take the most viral moment of July 2025 and, instead of disaster control, make light of the situation and create the ultimate brand awareness. Bravo.” A third person wrote, “it hits even better when you find out Gwyneth Paltrow is the ex-wife of the guy from Coldplay.the rascals in marketing cooked on this one forever internet lore.”
