Kristin Cabot, chief people officer at data technology company Astronomer, has resigned from her role after a jumbotron capturing her and the company’s CEO at a Coldplay concert went viral online.
Astronomer confirmed Cabot’s departure in a brief statement: “Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer, she has resigned,” said company spokesperson Taylor Jones.
Her resignation comes less than a week after the company’s CEO, Andy Byron, stepped down following actions taken by the company. Byron had been placed on leave pending an investigation before formally resigning, the company said.
The resignations stem from an incident that occurred at a Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. During a performance, lead singer Chris Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his “Jumbotron Song,” which resulted in Cabot and Byron appearing on the stadium’s big screen.
The two were seen smiling and cuddling before quickly reacting with surprise and fleeing the camera once they noticed they were being filmed.
“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” Martin remarked from the stage. While the identities of the pair were not immediately known, online sleuths soon identified them as work colleagues at Astronomer, and the situation escalated after it became known that both Cabot and Byron were married to other people.
In response to the leadership shake-up and the unexpected media attention, Astronomer named co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy as interim CEO.
“Awareness of our company may have changed overnight, but our mission remains unchanged,” the company said in a recent update. The company’s board is currently in the process of selecting a permanent CEO.
Following the incident, interest in Coldplay also saw a measurable boost. Industry data firm Luminate reported a 20 percent increase in streaming of Coldplay’s music in the days after the clip began circulating online.
