KISS CAM CHAOS: A powerful exec was caught off-guard on the Coldplay kiss cam — and the awkward moment is now blowing up online.
The clip spread fast, sparking questions about who he was with, why the reaction was so tense, and what happened after the cameras cut away.

Exec Caught on Coldplay ‘Kiss Cam’ with Married Boss Breaks Her Silence: ‘Bad Decision’ and ‘Couple of High Noons’

Kristin Cabot was with her boss, Andy Byron, and friends at a Coldplay show in July when they were caught on camera — in a moment the Internet seized upon

NEED TO KNOW

Kristin Cabot, the woman involved in the viral Coldplay kiss cam moment, is speaking out for the first time, months after the incident

In several new interviews, the former head of H.R. for Astronomer discussed the situation surrounding her viral moment with her then-boss, Andy Byron

Cabot also confirmed her then-estranged husband was at the same concert with a date

Kristin Cabot is breaking her silence months after a mega-viral clip of her and her boss, Andy Byron, at a Coldplay concert upended her life.

In her first interview since the fallout, Cabot told The New York Times that the moment — which quickly became known online as #coldplaygate — cost her her job and exposed her to months of public shaming, harassment and threats.

“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” Cabot said. “And it’s not nothing. I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”

Cabot and Byron were with friends at the Coldplay show at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on July 16 when they were shown together on the “kiss cam” with his arms wrapped around her. Both promptly tried to hide from view, and Chris Martin joked from stage that they might be having an “affair.”

The video racked up more than 100 million views within days, turning Cabot into what she describes as “a punchline and a target” almost overnight.

Andy Byron holding Kristin Cabot at a July Coldplay concert in Massachusetts

Prior to the moment, Cabot told the U.K. newspaper The Times that she had “a big happy crush” on her boss.

“I definitely thought he was a good-looking guy and I had that thought of, ‘If I didn’t work here …’ ” Cabot said.

According to The Times, both Cabot and Byron were going through marital separations at the time of the incident.

“I don’t think my separation would have come as a surprise to him, but his definitely did for me,” Cabot told the outlet. “To have someone else going through it at the exact same time that you can talk to was an amazing support.”

At the time, Cabot said she and her second husband, Andrew Cabot, the CEO of a rum distillery and a member of one of Boston’s most storied families, were going through “an amicable separation.”

“My immediate reaction was, ‘Holy s—, Andrew’s here’,” Cabot told The Times. “We were in the middle of an incredibly — and amazingly — amicable separation. I was worried I would embarrass him. He’s an amazing guy and does not deserve that.”

She added, “Then a beat later my mind turns to, ‘Oh God, Andy’s my effing boss’, this is a bad look. Boston’s not a big town. And while it wasn’t an Astronomer event or anything, there could have been investors or other staff there.”

Online, Kristin told The New York Times she was labeled “a slut,” “a homewrecker” and “a gold digger.” Her appearance was scrutinized. She was doxxed. For weeks, she received “500 or 600 calls a day.” Paparazzi parked outside her home. Death threats poured in.

While #coldplaygate cycled out of view, Kristin explained that she lives with it “every day.” She recalled being recognized while pumping gas weeks later, when a stranger called her “disgusting” and told her, “You don’t even deserve to breathe the same air that I breathe.”

Her children, she says, became reluctant to be seen with her in public. “They were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die,” Kristin said. “That’s when the wheels fell off the cart.”

TOBIAS STEINMAURER/APA/AFP via Getty

Chris Martin performing with Coldplay in August 2024

Kristin insisted she was not in a sexual relationship with Byron, Astronomer’s then-CEO, and says the concert marked the first and only time they kissed.

When the kiss cam caught them mid-embrace, she said the shift from joy to terror was instant. “I was so embarrassed and so horrified,” she said. “I’m the head of H.R. and he’s the C.E.O. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad. … We both just sat there with our heads in our hands, like, ‘What just happened?’ “

That same night, Kristin and her boss discussed informing the company’s board. By morning, the TikTok had exploded.

Days later, Byron resigned. The company said after Byron stepped down that “our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.”

After an internal investigation, Astronomer asked Kristin to return to her role, she told the Times — but she declined and negotiated her resignation, which was announced July 24. “I could not imagine how I could stand up as H.R. chief when I was a laughingstock,” she explained.

Kristin has since filed for divorce from Andrew, who she told the NYT has been “nothing but a gentleman” in the wake of the controversy.

Her contact with Byron has been minimal. Byron is also married, though has been photographed with his wife since the controversy this summer. He has not commented publicly.

What Kristin hopes now, she said, is not forgiveness from the internet but understanding — especially for her children. “I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them,” she said.

Earlier this year, a source close to Kristin spoke to PEOPLE to clarify what they called the “misinformation” about what happened at the concert between her and Byron.

“Kristin and Andy [Byron] had an excellent working relationship, a great friendship. There was no affair,” the source insisted. “It was inappropriate to be hugging your boss at a concert, and she accepts full responsibility for it. But the scandal, the downfall, the loss of the job — all of that is unfair.”

As for Andrew, the insider said then: “Kristin and Andrew had been living apart and one of the many misconceptions in the media is that [he] was in Japan and blindsided, when in fact he was at the Coldplay concert on a date.”

“These are real people and real families,” the source shared. “The way people have taken a lot of enjoyment at their expense, it’s hard to see.”

Read the original article on People