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Journalism of Courage
The Internet can be a chaotic place, and sometimes, all it takes is one unexpected moment to thrust someone into viral fame, whether they like it or not. That’s exactly what happened to Andy Byron, CEO of tech firm Astronomer, during a Coldplay concert in Boston.
Byron was attending the show at Gillette Stadium with Kristin Cabot, the company’s Chief People Officer, when they suddenly found themselves on the arena’s famous “kiss cam.” What unfolded next had social media in a frenzy.
As the camera panned to the pair, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin playfully teased the moment: “Oh, look at these two.” But instead of basking in the momentary glory, like normal concert goes do, the executives looked flustered. Byron immediately ducked out of the shot, while Cabot buried her face in her hands and turned away. That’s when Martin said, “Oh, what… either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.”
Naturally, the clip exploded online. But what added fuel to the fire was a key detail people quickly pointed out: Andy Byron is married, his wife is Megan Kerrigan Byron.
The awkward few seconds have now turned into a full-blown internet spectacle, and the reactions have been pouring in since.
Someone in the crowd managed to film the whole incident on their phone, and once the clip was uploaded, it spread like wildfire. From meme accounts to media companies, and even Elon Musk, everyone saw it, and everyone reacted to it.
Andy Byron, who took over as CEO and director of Astronomer in 2023, is facing renewed scrutiny after a viral incident brought his past back into the spotlight. Before joining Astronomer, Byron held senior roles in the cybersecurity space — he was president at Lacework between 2019 and 2022, later serving briefly as an advisor, and prior to that, he led Cybereason’s sales efforts as Chief Revenue Officer from 2017 to 2019.
But beyond his impressive résumé, former colleagues have painted a less flattering picture, calling him a “toxic boss.” The controversy has reignited group chats and message threads among his old teams, many of whom didn’t hold back.
“The text groups and chains of former employees are like… everybody’s laughing their a** off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed,” a former direct report told The New York Post.
Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan, was also unintentionally pulled into the mess. After the video blew up online, strangers began flooding her social media. Her Facebook — once filled with personal family moments — became a target for comments, leading her to first drop her last name and eventually shut down the page entirely. She also deleted her Instagram account, according to The New York Post.
Kristin Cabot came on board as Chief People Officer at Astronomer in 2024, and shortly after joining, she took to social media to commend Byron and the leadership team for their vision and support.
Byron, in turn, welcomed her with high praise in the official announcement, calling her “exceptional” and noting that her “deep expertise in talent management” made her an ideal match for the company’s evolving goals.
Also referred to as “Coldplaygate” already, the situation has taken over social media, with countless posts, theories, and speculations about the duo. Elon Musk couldn’t resist reacting to a viral post about Byron and Cabot, dropping a laughing emoji in response.
Meanwhile, Astronomer has stayed silent on the matter so far. But Ry Walker, the company’s co-founder and former CEO, made it clear he has nothing to do with the situation anymore. On X, he clarified, “For those asking – I’m no longer involved in @astronomerio… not on the team or board since 2022, and have no information on ColdplayGate.”
Putting the spotlight away from the headliners for a moment—Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin reportedly had quite the awkward night interacting with fans, if one X user’s account is anything to go by.
A man named Wade shared that his wife was at the show, and according to her, Martin spent a good chunk of the evening double-checking if couples featured on the big screen were, in fact, actually dating.
At one point, she told him, a couple held up a sign revealing they’d just gotten engaged. Martin invited them on stage to celebrate, but not before he, in Wade’s words, “made sure they were engaged to each other first.”
Meanwhile, Byron has disabled commenting on his LinkedIn post. There is no official confirmation about a relationship between Byron and Cabot, other than the one they share professionally. Byron and Cabot are yet to address the controversy.
