Tech CEO caught getting cozy with HR head on Coldplay kiss cam resigns from Astronomer
“Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
The CEO of AI company Astronomer, Andy Byron, who was caught getting cozy on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert with his company’s HR head, Kristin Cabot, has resigned from his position following the incident.
“As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said in a statement on Saturday. “Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.”
“The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO. 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. We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems,” the company added in the statement.
On Thursday earlier this week, Byron was placed on leave, and an interim CEO was named to run the company. Cabot and Byron were attending a Coldplay concert on Wednesday evening, and while the “kiss cam” made its way around the stadium, the two were seen cuddling together on the jumbo screen. After realizing their faces were shown where everyone could see, Byron ducked out of the shot, and Cabot turned her back on the camera.
Chris Martin, the lead singer of the group, commented in response, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.” The moment went viral online, and they were identified as the Astronomer and head of HR by Thursday morning.
On social media, Byron’s wife, Megan Kerrigan, also removed their shared last name from her Facebook profile after the incident played out, then deleted her profile altogether. Cabot is also married and has two young children with Privateer Rum Owner Andrew Cabot, per the New York Post.
When the outlet tried to get a comment from the Kerrigans, reporters were unsuccessful. One neighbor commented, “The Kerrigans are salt of the earth, hardworking people and they don’t deserve to be dragged through the mud.”