Andy Byron, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of U.S.-based software company Astronomer, has resigned following the circulation of a viral video that captured an intimate moment between him and the company’s Chief People Officer, Kristin Cabot.
Gatekeepers News reports that the incident occurred on July 16 at a Coldplay concert, where the two were featured on the stadium’s “kiss cam.”
The footage showed Byron, who is married, in a seemingly intimate exchange with Cabot, prompting Coldplay’s frontman, Chris Martin, to comment from the stage, “They are either having an affair or just very shy.”
Initially, the company dismissed the speculations, stating it would conduct an internal review. But on Friday, Astronomer announced Byron’s resignation and confirmed that Cabot has been placed on leave. Co-founder Pete DeJoy will assume the role of interim CEO.
In its statement, Astronomer emphasised the importance of leadership accountability saying, “ Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”
The company assured stakeholders that its operations and services remain unaffected.
It said, “ Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI.”
“While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.”
Subsequently after the incident, Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan, reportedly removed his surname from her Facebook profile and made her account private.
