Kristin Cabot has opened up for the first time about the unexpected moment that pulled her into the spotlight earlier this year.
The woman shown on a jumbotron during a Coldplay concert while standing close to her boss has now spoken publicly for the first time. The clip spread across social media earlier this year and quickly became one of those moments people replayed because they could not believe what they were seeing.
Andy Byron, who was the CEO of the New York tech company Astronomer at the time, had gone to see Coldplay perform at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts. The concert took place in July, and during the show, he unexpectedly ended up on the massive screens above the crowd.
He was there with his employee, Kristin Cabot, who was the company’s Chief People Officer. At that point, Byron was still married, which made the moment even more intense once the footage hit the internet.
In the video that went viral, Byron appeared to wrap his arms around Cabot while she leaned back against him, lightly holding his hands. It was a quick moment, but it was enough to grab the attention of the entire stadium.
Coldplay’s frontman Chris Martin even pointed them out, assuming they were a couple in the crowd enjoying the show. His reaction shifted fast when he saw how startled they were once they realized they had been put on the big screen.
Cabot pulled her hands up to cover her face, and in the same instant, Byron crouched down and dropped out of the frame. Their reaction made the clip even more memorable as it traveled far beyond the concert.
Both of them resigned from their roles at Astronomer not long after the concert, and neither spoke publicly about what happened — until now. Cabot has finally decided to explain her side of the story in a new interview with the New York Times.
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she said. “And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”
“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.”
Cabot said she had been in the middle of a separation at the time and stressed that she and Byron did not have a sexual relationship. She explained that they had not even kissed before that night and insisted that their relationship was not what people online assumed it was.
She said that the moment they appeared on the screen felt like someone suddenly flipped a switch and everything around her changed in seconds. What had been a fun night out quickly turned overwhelming.
“I’ll never be able to explain it in any articulate or intelligent way,” she explained.
She said the moment had been full of energy and excitement before it turned into a rush of embarrassment and panic. What felt lighthearted at first soon felt like a problem she could not control anymore.
Describing the exact moment they were shown, Cabot added: “I was so embarrassed and so horrified. I’m the head of H.R. and he’s the C.E.O. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad.”
After realizing the entire stadium had seen them, the pair rushed to the bar area to collect themselves. They both needed a moment to process what had just happened and to figure out how to move forward.
Cabot continued: “We both just sat there with our heads in our hands, like, ‘What just happened?’ And the initial conversation was, ‘We have to tell the board’.”
She also shared that although she and Byron spoke a couple of times after the incident, they agreed it was best to keep their communication limited. The attention around the clip made it clear that staying in contact would make everything more complicated.
