UPDATE (19/07/2025 – 8:26PM): Andy Byron, the now-former CEO of Astronomer, has resigned from his position in the company.
In a statement posted to LinkedIn, the company said: “As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.
“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.
“Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI.
“While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.
“We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.”
ORIGINAL (19/07/2025 – 1:06PM): If you’ve logged into any social media platform in the last couple of days, then you’ve probably seen a certain viral video from a recent Coldplay concert.
But in case you haven’t, take a look below:
If you aren’t sure what you’re looking at, the video shows Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company’s HR chief, Kristin Cabot, seemingly embracing each other during the band’s July 16 concert held at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
As they swayed onstage, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out: “Oh look at these two!”
Realizing they’d become the center of attention, the pair immediately tried to hide their faces – Byron ducking out of view and Cabot turning around with her head in her hands.
Chris then reassured them: “Alright, come on, you’re ok.”
He followed up with a zinger: “Oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure.”
The moment caught everyone by surprise, and now with a lip reader claiming that Andy said: “F***ing hell, it’s me” – before ducking out of the shot, as reported by the Daily Record.
Behavioral analyst Judi James also shared her insights with The Mirror, pointing out how the duo’s extreme reactions made the moment explode online.
“Perhaps the worst thing about their body language here is that they made themselves into human catnip for social media by reacting so violently rather than just trying to style it out,” James said. “Any interest was only created when they both went into a very furtive-looking flight mode rather than laughing as though they’d just been indulging in a little playful wrestle.”
James further described Kristin’s response: “Her mouth flies open when she presumably catches sight of herself on the big screen, and she performs an instant and very seminal hide gesture by placing both hands over her face in a cut-off ritual.
“She also turns her back, prompting even more lingering interest.”
In contrast, Andy’s reaction was even more telling: “His reaction is slower. He’s still looking at the screen while she’s hiding and his hands hang frozen in mid-air. But then he heads for the exit physically rather than copying her face-hiding technique, and it’s his response that seems to trash any suggestion of them just being prompted by shyness.
“But he dips his head before appearing to vanish totally, either down some kind of concealed trap door or he’s just gone into a crouch to the floor, which would be seen as an extreme response if it were just shyness.”
Not long after the clip went viral, a bogus statement supposedly from Byron, signed off with a Coldplay lyric, surfaced on social media.
Astronomer quickly debunked the claim, clarifying that it was “not a real statement.”
Andy has since been put on leave by Astronomer, with a statement to PEOPLE reading: “Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy is currently serving as interim CEO given Andy Byron has been placed on leave. We will share more details as appropriate in the coming days.”
The company added in a LinkedIn statement: “We are committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding.
“Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability. The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”
