Kristin Cabot, the former human resources executive who became a viral sensation after being caught sharing an intimate moment with her boss on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, has finally broken her silence on the incident.
Cabot and Astronomer CEO Andy Byron were caught on video leaping out of each other’s arms after they were featured on a kiss cam at the July 16 concert. The original TikTok video of the incident gained more than 100 million views within days.
Cabot, 53, has now given a wide-ranging interview to The New York Times, detailing the aftermath of the viral incident and how her outlook has evolved over the past six months. She recalled feeling “so embarrassed and so horrified” after realizing what had happened.
“I’m the head of HR and he’s the CEO. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad,” she said.
The incident ultimately led to both of them resigning from their roles at Astronomer. They kept in touch at first but, in September, they agreed that “speaking with each other was going to make it too hard for everyone to move on and heal,” Cabot told the Times. Their contact has been minimal since.
Cabot recalled how her “big feelings” for Byron grew at work. She had a “crush” on him, but they were “not an item,” she told the Times. “I didn’t really get too carried away because he’s my boss,” she said.
They also shared their first and only kiss at the concert, Cabot explained.
The viral video showed the pair embracing, with Byron’s arms wrapped around Cabot’s waist from behind. Once they realized they were on the kiss cam, they flew out of each other’s arms. Cabot covered her face with her hands, while Bryon crouched down, out of the camera’s view.
After seeing themselves on the kiss cam, Cabot recalled going back to the bar with Byron. “We both just sat there with our heads in our hands, like, ‘What just happened?’” she told the Times.
Cabot said she was separated from her second husband, Andrew Cabot, who also happened to be at the show, at the time and that they were undergoing divorce settlement negotiations. He already confirmed this in September, with his spokesperson telling People that “their decision to divorce was already underway prior to that evening.”
In the weeks and months that followed, Cabot said she received dozens of death threats, and even some messages that indicated the sender knew about her daily habits.
Cabot recalled one frightening message: “I know you shop at Market Basket and I’m coming for you.” At another point, her kids overheard her playing one of the concerning messages out loud. These messages started to affect her family.
“They were already in really bad shape, and that’s when the wheels fell off the cart,” she told the Times. “Because my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die.”
Cabot, who started as Astronomer’s chief people officer in 2024, also explained that people started to accuse her of “sleeping around” to propel her career. Cabot has worked since age 13 and prioritized her financial independence, she told the Times. In 2018, when Cabot divorced her first husband and he was unemployed, she even supported her family on her own.
“I supported my family entirely on my own, and I was able to keep my kids in incredibly fantastic schools and live in a comfy, warm house. I have never been more proud of anything in my entire life,” she said.
Cabot hopes that she can show her kids that ”you can make mistakes, you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.”
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay,” she said.
The Independent has contacted Astronomer for comment.
