An HR executive who was captured on camera embracing her boss at a Coldplay concert has described the ongoing harassment she has faced since the video went viral.
Kristin Cabot has spoken publicly for the first time about the incident, in which she was seen hugging Andy Byron, the then-CEO of tech company Astronomer, at a concert in July. The pair were filmed attempting to avoid the camera’s view.
Ms. Cabot, 53, who served as the company’s chief people officer, resigned following Mr. Byron’s departure. His resignation came after Astronomer announced he would be placed on leave pending an investigation.
In an interview with The Times, Ms. Cabot stated that she is currently seeking employment but has been told she is considered “unemployable.”
The video, which depicted the pair swaying to music at the concert in Boston, Massachusetts, before attempting to conceal themselves, rapidly gained traction online after Coldplay’s frontman, Chris Martin, remarked to the audience: “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”
The footage garnered millions of views and was widely shared across various platforms, leading to numerous jokes and memes. While the internet’s attention shifted within days, Ms. Cabot’s ordeal was just beginning.
“I became a meme; I was the most maligned HR manager in HR history,” Ms. Cabot told The Times.
At the time of the concert, Ms. Cabot was separated from her husband, who also attended the event.
In a separate interview with The New York Times, she clarified that she did not have a sexual relationship with Mr. Byron and that they had never kissed prior to that evening, although she admitted to having a “crush” on her boss.
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she said, adding she “took accountability and I gave up my career for that”.
Regarding her decision to speak out now, Ms. Cabot told The Times, “…it’s not over for me, and it’s not over for my kids. The harassment never ended.”
She noted that her two children are now too embarrassed to be picked up from school or attend sports games with her.
“They’re mad at me. And they can be mad at me for the rest of their lives – I have to take that.”
Ms. Cabot questioned whether Mr. Byron had faced the same level of abuse following the incident, The Times reported.
“I think as a woman, as women always do, I took the bulk of the abuse. People would say things like I was a ‘gold-digger’ or I ‘slept my way to the top’, which just couldn’t be further from reality,” she said.
“I worked so hard to dispel that all my life and here I was being accused of it.”
At the height of the controversy, Ms. Cabot’s appearance, body, face, and clothing were scrutinized, with several high-profile celebrities, including Whoopi Goldberg, adding to the criticism. Gwyneth Paltrow, who was previously married to Chris Martin, even participated in a tongue-in-cheek promotional video for Astronomer.
Ms. Cabot told The New York Times that she received threatening messages after the incident, including one from an individual who claimed to know where she shopped and wrote: “I’m coming for you.”
She said “my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die”, and that her family began to dread public spaces and social events.
Women were the cruellest critics, she told the New York Times, with all of the in-person bullying, plus most of the phone calls and messages coming from women.
Her private details were put online (known as doxxing) and for weeks she was bombarded with up to 600 calls a day, the New York Times reported. The paparazzi outside her house was like a “parade” and there were 50 or 60 death threats, she said.
Things are starting to improve, though. Ms Cabot has found therapists for her children and she has started leaving the house to play tennis.
While she and Mr. Byron maintained contact briefly, exchanging “crisis management advice,” Ms. Cabot stated that they decided “speaking with each other was going to make it too hard for everyone to move on and heal” and have not spoken since.
Mr. Byron has not made any public statements regarding the matter.
A fake statement purporting to be from him, complete with Coldplay lyrics, went viral after the concert and Astronomer had to release its own to say that he had not made any comment.
“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” the statement read. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability.”
The company later said: “Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
The BBC has tried to contact Andy Byron, via his former employer Astronomer, for comment.
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