New Delhi: Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin said with an impish laugh, “I hope we didn’t do something bad”, moments after CEO of data startup Astronomer Andy Byron and his HR chief Kristin Cabot were caught in an embrace on kiss cam, allegedly cheating with their respective spouses.
The 14-second clip from Wednesday’s Coldplay concert in Boston has since gone viral on social media and online discourse taken its natural course through the quips and quirks of memes and jokes.
As the pair rushed to hide their faces from the gigantic screen in the sky, Martin said, “Either they are having an affair or they are very shy”.
Quickly jumping on the joke wagon, X user Saiam Hasan said, “This is why I love Coldplay… Concert ke beech mein bhi four singles release kar diye”. The reference, of course, was to two couples possibly going their separate ways.
Another X user @HANKonX quipped about the couple caught on a giant screen, “The face you make when 20,000 people witness your HR violation in 4K. Live by the policy, die by the Jumbotron.”
As the many jokes were shared online and the clip quickly became office and drawing room conversation, the internet world was seemingly on fire.
An X user, Patiencexx4, raised questions about the professional ethics of the “HR lady”.
“The craziest thing is about the Astronomer CEO cheating scandal is it was the HR lady. The person who would warn you against fraternizing with coworkers.”
The incident also sent people sharing a scene from American comedy show “The Office” where CEO Michael Scott is seen being romantically involved with the company’s HR representative Holly Flax.
“Picture of the Astronomer CEO and the Head of HR at the weekly staff meeting,” wrote @jswtreeman on X.
Another X user, ShannonV1973, replaced the faces of Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet from an iconic scene from the movie Titanic with those of Byron and Cabot.
“They didn’t see a giant iceberg ahead called Coldplay…,” they wrote on the social media website.
During the frenzy created by the short clip, netizens naturally looked for any social media existence of the duo but not always to its desired effects.
The social media meme fest led a man, also named Andy Byron, to declare on his LinkedIn page that he was, in fact, “NOT THE GUY FROM THE COLDPLAY GIG”.
“I’m the Andy Byron who makes videos for big screens, not the one who gets caught on them. If you want to make video content that goes viral for the right reasons, let’s connect,” he wrote on the networking website.
As social media looked for new ways to make the best out of the relationship disaster, a statement seemingly from the Astronomer CEO also started doing the rounds.
“What was supposed to be a night of music and joy turned into a deeply personal mistake playing out on a very public stage. I want to sincerely apologise to my wife, my family, and the team at Astronomer. You deserve better from me as a partner, as a father, and as a leader,” Byron reportedly said.
“This is not who I want to be or how I want to represent the company I helped build. I’m taking time to reflect, to take accountability, and to figure out the next steps, personally and professionally. I ask for privacy as I navigate that process,” he added.
The statement could not be verified independently.
