The new CEO of Astronomer shared an unexpected perk of Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot being caught cozying up on Coldplay’s kiss cam last week.
Pete DeJoy, who stepped up to temporarily take over Byron’s duties on Friday, admitted that Astronomer has quickly become a “household name” after the former CEO of the company and its head of HR’s alleged affair made headlines.
“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies—let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world—ever encounter,” he wrote via LinkedIn Monday.
“The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”
DeJoy — who co-founded the firm that focuses on analytics, AI and software — detailed that the Astronomer team has “never shied away from challenges” and they’ve “emerged strong” every time the business tested them “time and time again.”
“We’re here because Astronomer is built by people who live to solve hard problems, stay late to fix what’s broken, and care deeply about doing things the right way,” he continued in his post.
“We’re here because our customers trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects. And, most importantly, we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.”
DeJoy noted in his post that the company’s “foundation remains strong.”
“To our team: thank you for your resilience & commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down,” he concluded.
Astronomer became a “household name,” as DeJoy described it, when Byron and Cabot were caught canoodling at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts on July 16.
The two — who are married to other people — had been wrapped up in each other’s arms when the kiss cam zeroed in on them.
However, after realizing that they were being featured on the big screen, they jumped away from each other and hid their faces.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out the suspicious reaction, saying into the microphone, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
The singer was seemingly right after internet sleuths discovered the twosome’s identities as Byron, the now-ex CEO of Astronomer, and Cabot, who is the company’s Chief People Officer.
After the video went viral, Andy’s wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, deactivated her account. Meanwhile, The Post revealed that Kristin appears to be married to Privateer Rum CEO, Andrew Cabot.
By July 18, Astronomer confirmed that they had launched an investigation into Andy and Cabot’s relationship before placing them on leave. DeJoy became the interim CEO of Astronomer on Friday when Byron resigned, while Cabot’s future in the company remains unclear.
Ry Walker, Astronomer’s co-founder and early CEO, also spoke out on the scandal via X.
After describing Andy as “professional,” he admitted that he had only spoken with the disgraced executive once on a call.
“Everyone on the team has praised his leadership to me. So I think this is an unfortunate development that comes as a big surprise,” he wrote.
Andy, Kristin and their respective partners have yet to speak out on the alleged affair.