“They said it was just a team event—then turned us into their cover story.” – TWO Astronomer employees let go after Coldplay concert HUG SCANDAL explodes, as CEO Andy Byron and VP Kristin Cabot hide while legal teams MOVE IN behind the scenes“They said it was just a team event—then turned us into their cover story.” – TWO Astronomer employees let go after Coldplay concert HUG SCANDAL explodes, as CEO Andy Byron and VP Kristin Cabot hide while legal teams MOVE IN behind the scenes
The fallout is only getting messier. One employee who booked the Coldplay concert tickets, and another who filmed the now-viral clip of CEO Andy Byron and VP Kristin Cabot’s too-close-for-comfort embrace on kiss cam, have both been terminated from Astronomer. Internally, sources say chaos has erupted—phones confiscated, NDAs quietly reinforced, and legal consultations underway. With leadership still refusing to directly address the footage, staff are caught in a chilling silence. Rumors swirl that one of the fired workers has already spoken to a lawyer. Now, the office feels less like a tech company—and more like a ticking time bomb.
Discover what insiders say could be the next explosive move in this unraveling scandal.
In a stunning escalation of the already viral Coldplay concert scandal, a former Astronomer employee has filed a $30 million lawsuit against the AI software firm, alleging wrongful termination, retaliation, and a toxic workplace culture. The lawsuit comes just days after footage from the concert went viral, showing CEO Andy Byron and HR chief Kristin Cabot caught on the venue’s kiss cam—only to recoil in embarrassment as the crowd erupted in laughter. But it’s what happened off-camera that’s now unraveling the very foundations of the company.
“They FIRED me for seeing what I wasn’t supposed to see.”— Alex Cohen, former event coordinator at Astronomer
The Hug That Lit a Fire
The July 16th concert at Gillette Stadium was meant to be a lighthearted team-building event. Coldplay’s “Music of the Spheres World Tour” had brought thousands of fans together—but no one could have predicted that a brief moment on the jumbotron would ignite a corporate firestorm.
As the stadium’s kiss cam panned across the crowd, it landed on Byron and Cabot sitting side by side. The moment should have been playful. Instead, it became awkwardly damning. Byron immediately ducked his head below the seat line while Cabot shielded her face and turned away. There was no kiss, no laughter—just panic.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, unaware of the unfolding scandal, joked from the stage:
“Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just really shy.”
It didn’t take long for social media to answer that question.
The Footage That Sparked a Scandal
The viral clip, posted by concertgoer Grace Springer, amassed millions of views in just 72 hours. Springer said she had no idea who the couple was but found their reaction “strange enough to film.”
“Part of me feels bad,” Springer told U.S. Sun. “But when you play stupid games, you win stupid prizes.”
What Springer didn’t realize was that she had captured the unraveling of a marriage, a company, and possibly an entire career.
“They Told Me to Keep Quiet or Step Down”
Behind the scenes, fallout came fast. According to internal sources, the very next morning, emails began disappearing from Astronomer’s internal servers. Team leads were called into emergency meetings and allegedly warned to “stay quiet or step down.” NDAs began circulating, and Slack channels once used for open discussion turned eerily silent.
Then came the first casualty: Alex Cohen, the event planner who organized the concert outing and booked the company’s group tickets.
According to Cohen, he was terminated without warning. His only alleged offense? Doing his job too well—and witnessing something leadership didn’t want the world to see.
In a statement translated from Vietnamese, Cohen posted:
“Today I was fired from Astronomer. I was responsible for organizing the team’s Coldplay concert. Turns out the CEO and the Head of HR are having an affair, and they were caught… at the very concert I booked. They blamed me for exposing it and fired me immediately.”
Now, Cohen is suing Astronomer for $30 million in damages, citing retaliation, wrongful termination, and a corporate culture of fear and favoritism.
The person who posted the video with tens of millions of views said she did not know the identity of this couple
The Company Under Siege
Since the concert video surfaced, Byron and Cabot have remained silent. Two AI-generated “statements” attributed to Byron that circulated online were quickly denounced by the company as fake. But the damage had been done.
Internally, Astronomer is in chaos. According to multiple sources, at least four senior employees have quit or submitted notice since the incident. A former co-founder, Ry Walker, took to social media to distance himself from the company:
“I’m no longer involved in Astronomer,” Walker wrote. “I left in 2022 and have no information on ColdplayGate.”
Another source revealed that Byron begged a senior advisor to release a fabricated public statement to “control the narrative.” That advisor refused.
“He begged us to fake a statement to save face. I refused,” the advisor told The Verge. “This is a man who’s losing everything, and he knows it.”
Marriage Collapsing, Company Crumbling
Meanwhile, Byron’s personal life is reportedly in free fall. His wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, has filed for divorce and removed his last name from all social media accounts. The couple’s children—once regulars at company events—have reportedly stopped speaking to their father.
Sources close to the family say Megan was “humiliated” by the public exposure and is seeking full custody and a sizable portion of Byron’s tech fortune. Early estimates put the divorce settlement at over $50 million.
Whispers of Deeper Secrets
Rumors continue to swirl about Cabot’s influence over Byron. Hired just nine months ago, she was praised by Byron in a company statement as “a transformative force” with “passion for building inclusive workplaces.” But internally, staff now believe she was granted unchecked power.
“She didn’t just report to Andy—she managed him,” said one senior engineer. “Her promotions made no sense. Now it all does.”
Some employees suspect that Cabot may have used her HR role to silence dissent or cover up the relationship before it exploded publicly.
A Battle for Control—and Survival
As Byron allegedly considers suing Coldplay for “invasion of privacy,” sources say the company is preparing for a shareholder revolt. Emergency board meetings have taken place, with some executives reportedly pushing for Byron’s resignation.
Legal experts warn the company could face additional lawsuits if evidence surfaces that internal documents were deleted to obstruct investigation or suppress whistleblowers.
Cabot, for her part, has reportedly hired a high-profile crisis PR team and is considering a public statement framing herself as a victim of internal betrayal.
But staff aren’t convinced.
“This was never about love,” one anonymous employee said. “It was about power. And now that power’s collapsing.”
What Comes Next?
As Astronomer teeters on the brink, Alex Cohen’s lawsuit may be just the first of many. Insiders say more employees are considering legal action, and investors are demanding answers.
What began as a fleeting moment on a stadium screen has become a tech scandal of staggering proportions. Careers have imploded, reputations ruined, and families broken—all in the span of a single song.
And with each day, new layers emerge. Deleted emails. Panic calls. Desperate attempts to erase the truth. But one thing remains clear:
The cameras may have turned away, but the world never stopped watching.