Turns out all the world needed to heal the cultural divide — temporarily, at least — was a Coldplay concert in Boston, a jumbotron and an embarrassing moment for a tech CEO and his top human resources executive.
Memes, jokes and movie and TV clips ranging from The Office, The Sopranos and Succession to Terrence Malick’s Knight of Cups are being deployed from all corners of the internet to poke fun at a scandal involving Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and the company’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot. The pair got caught in a tight embrace by a jumbotron during a kiss-cam segment at Coldplay’s concert earlier this week, and after seeing their image beamed out to the sold-out crowd of 65,000, they ducked for cover.
“Uh oh,” Coldplay frontman Chris Martin quipped. “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.” Though they haven’t confirmed, allegedly it’s the former. The company’s board of directors has launched an investigation while the original TikTok clip that caused the brouhaha (posted by user Grace Springer) has been viewed north of 70 million times. “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,” per the company on X.
Back to the funny business. Below are some of the best memes, jokes and social posts to hit the internet about the scandal.