Kristin Cabot Reveals the Personal Cost of a Viral Kiss‑Cam Moment

Kristin Cabot, the 53‑year‑old HR chief of data‑operations firm Astronomer, has finally spoken out about the whirlwind that erupted after a kiss‑cam moment at a Coldplay concert in July forced her and her boss to resign, led to a divorce filing, and left her family under threat.

The Viral Moment

In July, Cabot, 53, was seen embracing her boss, Andy Byron, the then‑CEO of Astronomer, on a “kiss cam” during a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass. The clip went viral on TikTok, prompting both Cabot and Byron to step down from their positions.

Personal Fallout

Cabot filed a petition for divorce from husband Andrew Cabot in August. She told The New York Times that she and Byron had not kissed before that night at the concert. “I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” Cabot said. “And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”

She added, “I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up,” she continued. “But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.”

Cabot said she was going through a separation with her husband at the time of the viral moment. She also found out on the way to the show that her now‑former husband was attending the concert. “It threw me,” she said.

Corporate Response

Astronomer tried to lighten the situation by hiring Gwyneth Paltrow, the ex‑wife of Coldplay’s Martin, as its “temporary spokesperson” in the wake of the video. Days after the incident, the data company released a video on July 25 featuring Chris Martin’s ex‑wife.

Chris Martin issued a warning to fans at his band’s first concert since the fallout. During the show, he joked to the crowd after seeing Cabot and Byron on the kiss cam: “Oh, look at these two. You’re all right. You’re OK. Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

Family Impact

Cabot said the viral moment resulted in death threats, including one she played for her mother on speakerphone that was overheard by her children. “They were already in really bad shape, and that’s when the wheels fell off the cart,” she said. “Because my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die.”

Once she realized the TikTok video was going viral, Cabot drove to talk to her children, who were staying with their father in Boston. Their 14‑year‑old daughter began crying as Cabot told them about her interaction with Byron. “They knew who Andy was, obviously, and I said, ‘He and I got very swept up in a moment and now it’s on social media,’” Cabot said.

She said she has been shunned by many former friends and close colleagues, which she calls “worse than people yelling at me at the gas station.” She added that the scandal is something she lives with “every day,” including strangers approaching her and scolding her in public while she’s with her children. “I didn’t know what to do to support my kids correctly,” she said.

Key Takeaways

• The kiss‑cam clip forced resignations and sparked a divorce filing.
• The incident led to death threats and daily harassment for Cabot and her family.
• Astronomer’s attempt to deflect involved hiring a public figure as a temporary spokesperson.

The story first appeared on TODAY.com and has since drawn widespread attention to the personal toll of viral moments.