Kristin Cabot, the woman linked to last year’s viral Coldplay “kiss cam” moment, has publicly criticized Gwyneth Paltrow and Ryan Reynolds for how they responded to the fallout.
Cabot, who later stepped down as Chief People Officer at Astronomer, discussed the incident in a new conversation with Oprah Winfrey after the concert clip spread widely online.
The now-famous footage came from a Coldplay show at Gillette Stadium in Boston last July, where Cabot attended with Andy Byron, Astronomer’s then-CEO. The two were shown on the venue’s big screen in what appeared to be an affectionate moment neither expected to be broadcast.
“Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just really shy,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said at the time.
The clip went on to rack up enormous attention, topping 150 million views on TikTok alone. Months later, Cabot appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Podcast on Tuesday (March 17) and offered more context, including that she and her husband were already separated when the concert took place.
Shortly after the moment became a major pop-culture talking point, Paltrow appeared in a tongue-in-cheek Astronomer video as its “temporary spokesperson,” shared through the company’s social channels. Cabot told Winfrey she did not view the stunt as harmless.
“That was really disappointing to me,” Cabot told Winfrey. “I felt like Gwyneth, someone whose company [Goop] is founded on or framed around uplifting women and women’s well-being… I don’t know why she felt she needed to throw gas on the fire and get involved in all of this. It just felt really hypocritical to me and unnecessary.”
Cabot said her frustration extended to Reynolds as well, noting his role behind the camera.
“He produced the ad, he created it and his wife has just gone through something really similar over the last year,” she said, referencing Blake Lively’s legal battle with Justin Baldoni.
Paltrow did not join the podcast interview, but Winfrey said she spoke with her beforehand. According to Winfrey, Paltrow understood that both Cabot and Byron had approved the commercial.
Winfrey explained, “She was told that you and Andy Byron had signed off on that commercial,” adding, “and she said she wouldn’t have done it” if she had known otherwise.
Cabot confirmed that account, saying, “She communicated that to me as well.”
The original incident occurred on July 15, when Byron and Cabot were seen together during the show, with Byron’s arms around her. When the camera appeared to focus on them, they moved quickly out of the frame, but the moment had already been captured by another concertgoer.
Grace Springer later posted the clip online, fueling the viral spread.
The pair attempted to get out of the camera’s view (TikTok/instaagrace)
After the clip’s popularity surged, Springer told ITV’s This Morning that she didn’t regret uploading it and emphasized that plenty of others recorded it too, adding: “So if it wasn’t me who uploaded it, I’m sure someone else would’ve.”
Once social media users identified Byron and Cabot, Astronomer addressed the situation publicly, stating that it had “initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly’.” The company also pushed back on claims that other staff were present and warned about fake statements attributed to Byron circulating online.
In a subsequent update, Astronomer said Byron had been “placed on leave’.”
On July 19, the company confirmed his departure: “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.”
Not long after, Astronomer also announced Cabot’s exit, stating “that Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer. She has resigned’.”
DeJoy later posted on LinkedIn about the unusual scale of attention the company received. While he said he “would never have wished for it to happen like this,” he also noted that Astronomer had become “a household name’.”
Cabot resigned from her position at Astronomer following the incident (LinkedIn/Kristin Cabot)
Later, during a show in Hull, UK, Martin referenced the viral episode when discussing the jumbotron segment of Coldplay performances.
“This is called a jumbotron, and we’ve done this for a long, long time, and we pick people out to say hello, and sometimes they – yeah, they turn out to be an internationally massive scandal, sure.
“But most of the time we’re just trying to say hello to f**king people, that’s all. Now all of this bulls**t.”
In the months that followed, Cabot described the professional impact as severe. In an interview with the Times in December, she said she had been left “unemployable’.”
She also told the New York Times that she and Byron were not in a sexual relationship, and said she hadn’t kissed him until the night they were filmed—while acknowledging how the optics would appear publicly.
She 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.”