The Coldplay fan who was filming when a tech firm CEO was broadcast to a stadium of people with his arm around his HR chief has spoken out about the moment – to take a cheeky swipe at the couple.
Grace Springer, 28, was recording from the crowd when Andrew Byron and Kirstin Cabot appeared on the big screen together at Boston’s Gillette Stadium on Tuesday.
The couple recoiled, with Byron, the head of the AI startup Astronomer, diving out of view and Cabot covering her face and turning away from the camera.
Coldplay’s Chris Martin poked at the couple on the kiss cam, jokingly speculating: ‘Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.’
Grace, from New Jersey, went on to share the drama on TikTok, before it very rapidly grew into a viral sensation.
She told the U.S. Sun she had no idea who they were, but but thought it was an ‘interesting reaction’ to the kiss cam.
‘A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games… win stupid prizes,’ she told the outlet.
The video been seen tens of millions of times in the last three days.
Springer said there was ‘a lot of talk’ about the kiss cam at the show, but ‘no one knew who they were’.
It has since emerged that the company the pair work for provides generative AI software to a number of major companies including Uber, Ford and LinkedIn.
Byron heaped praise on Cabot in a November 2024 post about her appointment to the firm.
‘Kristin’s exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory,’ he said in a press release.
‘She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer.’
The Daily Mail has contacted Byron, Cabot and Astronomer for comment.
Byron became CEO of Astronomer in 2023, and the startup rapidly grew under his tenure including a reported 292% growth in revenue for its ‘Astro’ platform that year.
Before working at Astronomer, he worked at cybersecurity tech company Cybereason.
A 2018 report on the company included claims from staff that the appointment of Byron as chief revenue officer a year prior had ‘quickly caused turmoil’.
Multiple former employees said Byron would lash out against staff who disagreed with him.
‘You couldn’t challenge him,’ one told The Information, a tech industry outlet.
Another employee said where people once ‘loved’ the company, ‘now they hate it’.
In the article, Byron denied having contentious dealings with staff, recognising that ‘difficult decisions’ may have ‘disappointed some individuals’.
Coldplay was performing at the ongoing Music Of The Spheres World Tour on Tuesday night.
They will next play Madison, Nashville and Miami before heading back to the UK for a string of dates in August and September.
