Who knew that a Coldplay concert could lead to all of this? After (married) Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was caught on a kiss cam at one of the band’s shows with a fellow employee last week, memes about the awkward moment have been everywhere, and now, we have a major update. Andy has officially resigned from his position as CEO, and the tech company is now speaking out about the situation – and launching an investigation.
The kiss cam moment went viral last week.
@instaagraace trouble in paradise?? 👀 #coldplay #boston #coldplayconcert #kisscam #fyp ♬ original sound – grace
When different members of the audience were featured on the big screen at Coldplay’s concert, one couple who was looking cozy as they enjoyed the band’s music – later identified as Andy and Astronomer HR exec Kristin Cabot – immediately split apart and hid their faces when they realized all eyes were on them.
Later, internet sleuths discovered that Andy was a married man and Kristin wasn’t his wife, sending people into a tailspin that’s still inspiring new memes days later.
Astronomer released a statement over the weekend.
In a statement that Astronomer shared on LinkedIn on Friday, the company confirmed that an investigation into the situation had been launched.
“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability,” read the statement. “The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”
Now, Andy Byron has resigned.
The following day, Astronomer released a statement to multiple news outlets, including Page Six, revealing that Andy had resigned from his post as CEO.
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the statement read. “Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.”
It sounds like the company is ready to move on.
“Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI,” the statement continued. “While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data & AI problems.”
It makes total sense that the company would want people to focus on the business again, but at this point that may not happen for a long time. The kiss cam moment went mega viral – we’re talking over 123 million views and counting on the original TikTok post alone – so it seems we can expect the memes to continue to roll in for a while.
