If you’ve noticed an apparently random couple popping up all over your social media feeds and wondered “who are these people?” – buckle up to go on a strange ride that includes Coldplay, tech executives and alleged infidelity.
Things started to go haywire for the pair at Coldplay’s Wednesday night show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., according to FOX. That’s when they were featured on the stadium’s jumbotron “kiss cam” in an embrace. Once they realized they were on the screen, the couple quickly broke apart, and worried looks can be seen on their faces as they scramble to cover them.
“Oh, look at these two,” Coldplay front man Chris Martin joked. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
According to the social media buzz, Martin’s first guess was correct. Soon, the video was online (FOX said concertgoer Grace Springer was at least one person filming the jumbotron in the nearly 65,000-seat stadium at the time) and internet sleuths started spreading the alleged identities of the couple: Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot.
Those aren’t exactly household names, but the implications started to paint a picture that people couldn’t seem to get enough of. Byron is the CEO of tech company Astronomer and Cabot is the head of people, or human resources, for the company, per Business Insider. There’s more: Byron is apparently married, while Cabot divorced in 2022, according to The New York Post.
As the video continues to spread online, more and more people are offering their takes on the situation, even telling Byron’s wife to divorce him and finding Bryon and Cabot’s LinkedIn profiles to leave comments. One X user encouraged people not to get too involved: “begging people to be normal about the straight couple that had an affair at a coldplay concert,” they said.
Over the 24-hour period from Wednesday evening through Thursday evening, Bryon’s name became the top Google search with more than 2 million searches, Business Insider noted. As of 8 p.m. ET Thursday, there were two different betting options related to Byron on Polymarket – 48% of the people bet more than $85,000 on whether he’ll be out as Astronomer’s CEO by next Friday and more than $50,000 had been put down on a divorce parlay.
By Thursday afternoon, the story had jumped from social media to news outlets, including CBS News and Rolling Stone. More information began pouring in as the story circulated.
Rolling Stone reported on an Etsy seller who quickly jumped on the trending story to sell merch that reads “I Took My Sidepiece To The Coldplay Concert And It Ruined My Life,” including a sweatshirt for $34.99. Page Six also unearthed an old story that alleged Byron used to lash out at employees.
So far, Business Insider said that no comments have been issued regarding the viral video by Byron, Cabot, the company and its staff or board. Rolling Stone noted that Martin and Coldplay have likewise not commented on the video.