Astronomer HR chief Kristin Cabot resigns after viral ‘kiss cam’ incident

Kristin Cabot, chief people officer at data startup Astronomer, has resigned just days after CEO Andy Byron stepped down, following public backlash over a viral video from a Coldplay concert in Boston.

The moment, captured during the band’s live show, showed Byron and Cabot—both senior executives at the New York-based company—in an intimate pose on the venue’s “kiss cam.” When their faces appeared on the big screen, the pair quickly ducked out of view, prompting Coldplay frontman Chris Martin to joke, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

An attendee's video of the moment circulated rapidly on social media, sparking widespread speculation about the nature of their relationship. Byron is reportedly married with children. The incident has since become a flashpoint for discussion on leadership conduct, workplace relationships, and ethical boundaries in the startup world.

Cabot’s departure was first confirmed by CNBC on Thursday, 25 July. “Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer, she has resigned,” a company spokesperson wrote in an email to the publication.

Her resignation comes less than a week after Byron’s. He resigned on Saturday, 20 July, amid mounting scrutiny following the incident. Both Cabot and Byron have since been removed from Astronomer’s leadership page, signalling a clean break from the company’s previous executive team.

In a LinkedIn post earlier this week, Astronomer’s interim CEO Pete DeJoy acknowledged the storm of attention surrounding the company. “Over the past few days, Astronomer has become a household name, albeit in an unexpected and unprecedented way,” DeJoy wrote. He did not comment directly on the resignations or the events that triggered them.

Astronomer, which commercialises the popular open-source data workflow tool Apache Airflow, had recently been in the news for more positive reasons. In May 2025, the company announced a $93 million Series C funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures, with participation from Salesforce Ventures and other prominent backers. The investment was seen as a strong vote of confidence in the company’s long-term prospects.

However, the viral moment at the concert has now overshadowed that milestone, putting the spotlight instead on the company’s culture and governance.

Neither Cabot nor Byron has issued a public statement about their respective resignations. The company has also declined to elaborate on the nature of their relationship or whether it violated internal policies.

The incident has reignited broader conversations around workplace ethics, especially the complications that arise when senior executives are involved in personal relationships—real or perceived. The optics of such relationships can be particularly damaging in fast-paced startup environments where power structures are fluid and accountability is under constant scrutiny.

Cabot, who had been with Astronomer since 2021, was known for her work on building inclusive hiring practices and fostering a values-driven workplace. Her departure leaves a significant leadership gap at a time when the company must reassure employees, customers, and investors about its direction.

DeJoy, formerly the company’s head of product, now faces the dual task of stabilising internal morale and maintaining external confidence. No announcement has been made yet about a permanent CEO search or Cabot’s replacement.

Meanwhile, the incident continues to trend on social platforms, fuelling debates over workplace relationships, HR accountability, and executive behaviour in an era where nothing stays private for long.

For Astronomer, a company built on the backbone of transparency in data infrastructure, the current crisis marks an ironic twist: a moment of viral visibility that has nothing to do with its technology—and everything to do with human judgment.