Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his human resources chief, Kristin Cabot, could soon be out of jobs after Chris Martin and the jumbotron at the singer’s Coldplay concert Wednesday night inadvertently caught the two executives, one who is married, canoodling in the audience.
Lawyers interviewed by the New York Post predicted Byron and Cabot’s “professional downfall” after a TikTok video went viral, showing the two being singled out by Martin on the “kiss cam” at Gillette Stadium near Boston. This “kiss cam moment” pushed the married Byron and the divorced Cabot into the middle of a social media firestorm that neither clearly expected when they went to the show.
The video showed Martin gushing about Byron and Cabot, as they could be seen on the big screen embracing in a hot-for-each other way. It then showed their shocked reactions as they realized their PDA was being projected to a crowd of 55,000 people. Martin and everyone else saw Cabot turn her face from the camera, and Byron dive behind a barrier, exclaiming “(Expletive) hell, it’s me,” according to the Daily Mail. The singer laughed uncomfortably and said, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
Byron and Cabot have not spoken out about scandal, either to confirm or deny whether they are having “an affair,” according to the Post. Astronomer, a New York City-based AI startup, also has not offered a statement on the controversy.
But employment lawyers have chimed in, telling the Post that the situation is complicated by the fact that Cabot is the company’s “Chief People Officer.” That is, she leads the human resources department, which typically handles and oversees conflicts related to romantic relationships in the workplace.
“It’s horrible because she is the head of HR!” New York City-based employment lawyer William Cafaro told the Post. “She’s (allegedly) involved in an extramarital affair with the CEO. Basically, how much worse of an HR faux pas could you commit?”
Indeed, it appears that Cabot could face consequences immediately because of her role in the company, Cafaro told the Post.
“I would say she’s just about certain to be removed from her position, because how can you have someone in HR who is having an affair with the CEO imposing or making disciplinary decisions over any other employees. That’s ludicrous,” Cafaro said.
Meanwhile, consequences for Byron, who heads the company, could be left up to the other members of the board of directors, Cafaro told the Post. The consequences could include removal from his job if it’s determined that he violated company policies.
Astronomer also could face legal exposure if Cabot is terminated, as she was in a subordinate position to Byron, according to Helen Rella, who does employment litigation for the New York City-based firm, Wilk Auslander. Rella explained to the Post that there could be a claim if a person in a subordinate position thought they were being unfairly targeted. “That’s one avenue of potential exposure for the company,” she said.
Rella said another issue that could open up the company to legal exposure, under Massachusetts employment law, is whether the Coldplay outing was organized by Astronomer. It did appear that at least one other member of the company’s executive team was present in the audience with Byron and Cabot, according to people who viewed the TikTok clip, which was posted by concert attendee Grace Springer.
Soon after the video was posted, people quickly identified Byron and Cabot and noted that he is married with two children. It was initially assumed that Cabot is married, but the New York Post subsequently cited Massachusetts records to report that she divorced ex-husband Kenneth Thornby in 2022 and they share one child.
Meanwhile, others noted that a woman standing next to Cabot, looking embarrassed about the situation, appeared to be another member of Astronomer’s executive team. “Yeah looks like the whole team knows. That makes it even worse for their partners,” one person said.
Byron became CEO at Astronomer in July 2023, according to his LinkedIn. Before that, he served as president for three years at Lacework, a Silicon Valley-based company, which is involved in computer and network security and is now part of Fortinet, a cloud-native application protection platform. Much of Byron’s career has been based in the Boston area, and he and his wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, live in Northborough, which is near Gillette Stadium, home of the NFL’s New England Patriots.
Cabot began working at Astronomer in November, describing herself on LinkedIn as “a passionate People leader known for building award-winning cultures from the ground up for fast-growing startups and multi-national corporations.” Cabot also said she tries to “lead by example and win trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants.”