Desk Report,
CEO on leave after video of him hugging ‘colleague’ at US concert goes viral
A US technology company has put its CEO on leave after a video of a hug seen on a big screen during a Coldplay concert went viral. Various reports claim that the man and woman in the scene are colleagues.
CEO on leave after video of him hugging ‘colleague’ at US concert goes viral
The Coldplay concert was held last Wednesday night at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. A woman and a man were suddenly seen on the giant screen there. They were hugging each other.
As soon as the faces of the two appeared on the screen in front of thousands of spectators, the man and woman in question ducked and hid their faces from the camera. Both are said to be executives of a company called Astronomer, according to various reports.
A comment by the band’s artist sparked rumors of an affair between the two, and the video quickly spread online. Later on Friday night, Astronomer posted on social media that their CEO Andy Byrne had been placed on leave.
The two were hugging and swaying to the music at a Coldplay concert on Wednesday night when the camera suddenly focused on them, and their faces appeared on a giant screen in the stadium. They quickly realized what was happening and looked away.
Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin, who quickly hid his face, told the audience, “They’re either in a relationship or they’re just really shy.”
The video, originally posted on TikTok, has been viewed more than a million times. The video later spread to other platforms, became a meme and was even the subject of jokes on television shows.
Two days after the video of the hug and the discussion about it spread online, Astronomer issued a statement saying that they were investigating the incident. However, the company did not explicitly mention the video anywhere in its statement.
The statement said, “We are committed to the values and culture that have guided us since Astronomia was founded. We expect our leaders to maintain high standards of conduct and responsibility. The board of directors has launched a formal investigation into this matter and we will provide more details on this very soon.”
Co-founder and chief product officer Pete D’Joy has been appointed as the company’s interim CEO. The statement did not confirm whether the man shown in the video is Astronomia CEO Andy Byrne. Byrne himself had not confirmed the matter at the time of writing this BBC report. However, multiple media reports said that it was Andy Byrne. He has been working at the company since July 2023.
The identity of the woman in the video has been revealed online. The reports say that she is Astronomia’s chief human resources officer Christine Cabot. She has been working at the Astronomer since November 2024. Cabot has not yet confirmed whether she is the woman seen in the video.
The BBC has not been able to confirm the identities of the man and woman in the video from an independent source.
The Astronomer also said in their statement that Byron has not yet released any personal statements. What is being said in various reports about this is not correct. None of their other employees were in the video.
Meanwhile, the day after the incident, Byron’s false statement went viral online on Thursday.
