Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was suddenly thrust into the public eye by a viral moment at Coldplay’s Boston performance, which sparked online rumors about a potential office affair and raised questions about his previous professional behavior.

A well-known tech executive and his alleged mistress may have been exposed during Coldplay’s Boston performance after the audience took notice of their peculiar response to the show’s “Kiss Cam” segment.

The woman turned her face away and the man ducked down to hide when the camera panned to the two of them.

Later, it was discovered that the man was Andy Byron, the CEO of Astronomer, a data orchestration company. The woman in his embrace was Kristin Cabot, the Chief People Officer for Astronomer.

Frontman Chris Martin of Coldplay humorously responded to the situation by asking the audience, “Uh-oh, what? Either they are extremely shy or they are having an affair.

In appreciation of the frontman’s spontaneous comment, one internet user joked, “Chris Martin doing God’s work, [sic].” “Consider getting caught by Coldplay,” someone else said.

Since the video went viral, people on social media have echoed Chris Martin’s humorous yet suggestive comment. One person wrote, “HES having an affair… [sic]”. Another person added, “There’s no doubt that they’re concealing something.”

One user wrote, “Oh my God, that looks like Astronomer CEO Andy Byron AND Astronomer Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot???” and claimed to have recognized the pair right away. Indeed, that will be a very uncomfortable board meeting, if not a few divorces as well. [sic]

Another user asked, “I wonder where he told his wife he was going to be?” after it was established that Byron is married.

Internet detectives and social media users started looking into the pair as soon as the video of the incident went viral, which rekindled interest in Byron’s press release from 2023 regarding Cabot’s executive appointment. He stated in the statement:

As we continue on our rapid trajectory, Kristin’s outstanding leadership and profound knowledge of talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be essential. She has demonstrated leadership at several growth-stage businesses, and Astronomer is the ideal fit for her because of her enthusiasm for creating diverse, cooperative work environments.

Those comments are now coming up again, but in a completely different context. Their alleged affair has sparked a variety of online reactions, from amusing to disbelieving. “The gift that keeps giving—for the lawyers, that is—is this cheating scandal! One user commented, “Their spouses ought to be thanking the tabloids right now 😂😂😂.”
Promotion
Others saw right away that there might be more than one side to the scandal. One perceptive viewer commented, “It appears that she is wearing a wedding ring as well.”

Cabot and her ex-husband, Kenneth Thornby, however, filed for divorce in 2018 and completed it in 2022, according to Massachusetts court records. Although records indicate the former couple shares at least one child, Thornby was ordered to pay child support, so it’s unclear if she has since remarried.

@instaagraace trouble in paradise?? 👀 #coldplay #boston #coldplayconcert #kisscam #fyp ♬ original sound – grace

Many focused on Byron’s marriage as suspicions grew. Megan Kerrigan Byron, his wife, first deleted the name Byron from her Facebook profile before deleting it completely. Additionally, her Instagram account has been deleted.

Following a barrage of comments on her social media accounts about the viral video of her husband and his HR executive at the concert, Megan reportedly took quick action. In the end, internet users informed Megan that they supported her.

JUST IN: Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s wife removes his last name from her Facebook profile. pic.twitter.com/SZiG4Kav7U

— Polymarket (@Polymarket) July 17, 2025

Byron has disabled his LinkedIn profile in the interim. Someone said, “I know the company is going crazy today.”

Cabot’s online persona is still accessible to the public, but Byron’s has disappeared. “An influential leader and fearless change-agent, I lead by example and win trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants,” according to her professional bio.

Byron’s professional background, especially his tenure at cybersecurity company Cybereason, has come under renewed scrutiny as the alleged affair gains public attention.

Former employees described Byron as combative and toxic in leadership, according to an April 2018 exposé titled “Fake Hire, Staff Departures Roil SoftBank-Backed Security Startup” published by The Information.

“Mr. Byron would lash out against employees who disagreed with him, including threatening to fire them,” according to several former employees, the article said. According to one former employee, “you couldn’t challenge him.”

According to his since-deactivated LinkedIn profile, Byron was the chief revenue officer of Cybereason for more than two years, beginning in 2017. His management style reportedly caused a lot of employees to leave during that time. He allegedly responded by hiring devoted salespeople from his previous business, Fuze.

One former team member stated, “We got off to a great start and were really successful, but [with] the pressure to grow employees and revenue, it was never enough to just say we were a fast-growing company.” We had to have the quickest rate of growth. The worker called the atmosphere “sad.”
“People loved the company,” said another employee who was still working at Cybereason at the time the article was published. They despise it now.

Byron said that his choices had only let some people down and refuted claims of abusive behavior.

Cabot and Byron have not yet commented on the situation, and Byron’s wife has made it clear that she will not be speaking by deactivating her social media accounts.