Astronomer’s former chief people officer, Christine Cabot, is struggling to find work after a viral Coldplay kiss cam incident with her married boss, Andy Byron.
In interviews with New York Times And the United Kingdom The timesCabot, 53, spoke about being subjected to public shaming, harassment and threats in the wake of the viral incident, saying the incident overshadowed her professional accomplishments.
“It was like a scarlet letter; people erased everything I had accomplished in my life and achieved in my career. This couldn’t be the last word,” she told The Times.
Cabot joined Astronomer in November 2024, and after an internal investigation cleared her of wrongdoing, the company asked her to return. She refused and negotiated her resignation instead.
“I couldn’t imagine how I could stand up as head of human resources when I was such a laughing stock,” she said.
The incident occurred at Coldplay’s July 16 show in Foxborough, Massachusetts, when Byron and Cabot were caught on a kiss cam at the stadium, leading to jokes from Chris Martin about an alleged affair when they suspiciously tried to hide.
Cabot says contact with Byron, who also left the company after the incident, has been minimal since September.
Cabot, who was in the midst of divorcing her husband at the time, said the kiss was the only one she shared with Byron. She added that she has been told repeatedly that she is “unemployed” since the scandal, despite her decades-long career.
“If it hadn’t turned into what happened online, I would have stood up and said, ‘I’m committed to this place,'” she said. “I’m not finished yet.”