The Coldplay Kiss-Cam Couple

“Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy.”

With these words, spoken innocently by lead singer Chris Martin at Coldplay’s July 16th concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, the lives of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were turned upside down… and they had no one to blame but themselves.

Byron, the CEO of tech firm Astronomer, and Cabot, Astronomer’s Chief People Officer, were caught in a lover’s embrace on the stadium’s Kiss-cam for all 65,000 concertgoers to see. Instead of smiling and waving like most couples do, Byron quickly ducked out of the way while Cabot covered her face in shock, horror, and shame before turning her back to the camera.

Caught red-handed… or rather red-lipped… the thrice-married Byron and the twice-married Cabot are expected to get divorced yet again. Why? Because they were caught cheating on their respective spouses, breaking not only biblical commands and societal mores, but also company policy.

“You shall not commit adultery,” God’s Word says in Exodus 20:14.

“…be assured that your sin will find you out,” the Bible says in Numbers 32:23.

“For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be made known and brought to light,” Jesus said in Luke 8:17.

If only Byron and Cabot had read and followed God’s clearly revealed instructions, they could have spared themselves a lifetime of shame, embarrassment, and regret… not to mention financial ruin (more on that later).

And if only they had read and followed their own human resources manual – which I am sure outlawed clandestine affairs between a boss and his or her subordinate in the workplace – their names wouldn’t be the subject of universal office gossip and countless social media memes.

Now, both Byron and Cabot will have to deal with the tragic repercussions of their affair, the first of which was the loss of their extremely well-paying jobs. As CEO, Byron’s annual salary exceeded $1,000,000 but it was his stock options that were the biggest part of his massive compensation package. Astronomer is valued at $1.5 billion, and Byron was reportedly due 5% of its stock. However, those shares weren’t his to use or sell until he was fully vested, which he wasn’t. And so, wave bye-bye to an estimated $75 million... plus half of his $20-70 million net worth if his wife Megan divorces him, which appears likely since she has already dropped her married name on her social media accounts.

Ouch!

As for Cabot, not only was she forced to resign from her $600,000 per year position, but it appears that she will be heading to divorce court yet again. That means that she will no longer be married to one of the heirs to the $15.4 billion Cabot family fortune.

Double ouch!

Sadly, the biggest victims in these sordid affairs are always the unintended ones – their children. The Byrons have two teenage sons while the Cabots share a young son and a young daughter. Just imagine the shame and embarrassment they are being forced to deal with… albeit no fault of their own.

If only Andy and Kristin had thought about the possible fallout before hooking up, especially in public. But as a pastor once told me, “Sin will take you farther than you want to go and cost you more than you are willing to pay.”

Apparently, the only one benefitting from this sleazy and sordid affair is Astronomer itself. Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is currently serving as interim CEO of the company, which specializes in AI-driven data and recently raised $93 million in Series D funding from backers that included Bain Capital, Salesforce, Venrock and Meritech.

Ever the entrepreneur, DeJoy is seizing on Astronomer’s increased notoriety, resulting from the 130 million (and counting) Kiss-cam views on social media.

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies – let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world – ever encounter,” DeJoy posted on LinkedIn. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”

You talk about turning lemons into lemonade! Or in the words of former Obama administration official Rahm Emanuel, and Stanford economist Paul Romer before him, “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste.”

And so, DeJoy doubled down on the scandal, rolled the dice, and hired actress Gwyneth Paltrow to serve as Astronomer’s new company spokesperson. Yes, THAT Gwyneth Paltrow who was married to Coldplay’s Chris Martin from 2003 to 2016.

Crass? Maybe. Opportunistic? Most definitely.

But far less repulsive than what Byron and Cabot did to their respective spouses and four kids.

Maybe the two guilty parties can collaborate on a book, How to Destroy Your Marriage and Ruin Your Career in One Easy Lesson. There are enough prurient readers out there, so I’m sure it would be an international bestseller. Just make sure the proceeds go to their four kids.

Editor’s Note: As tragic as this story is, there remains more than a glimmer of hope if Andy and Kristin repent of their sins and turn to Jesus for both forgiveness and salvation (John 6:37 & 8:11; I John 1:9). My guess is that, because of the public nature of the scandal, it is probably too late for their marriages to be salvaged. However, they should still try to make amends to their respective spouses and children… and moving forward, to lead lives of honor and integrity.

Meanwhile, let’s all remember those four kids in our prayers.