The public fallout from the “Coldplay kiss cam” incident continues to widen for former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, as a resurfaced report and new anonymous accounts paint a disturbing picture of his alleged leadership style at a previous company. While the internet focused on his public romantic entanglement, former employees are now coming forward, claiming a history of “lashing out” and “threatening” staff.
Byron, who resigned from his role as CEO of Astronomer following the viral video depicting him in an intimate embrace with Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot at a Coldplay concert, is now facing accusations that his behavior at Astronomer was not an isolated incident.
According to a 2018 exposé published in The Information regarding the cybersecurity tech company Cybereason, where Byron previously served as Chief Revenue Officer, multiple former employees described a hostile work environment under his leadership. The report claimed that Byron’s hiring in 2017 marked the beginning of “turmoil” at the SoftBank-backed startup.
“Multiple former employees said Mr. Byron would lash out against employees who disagreed with him, including threatening to fire them,” the 2018 report detailed. One former employee, who worked directly for Byron at Cybereason, was quoted as saying, “You couldn’t challenge him.”
These accounts suggest a stark shift in culture at Cybereason, moving from a company that had previously prided itself on transparency to one where it was reportedly lacking after Byron’s arrival. The report also indicated that Byron brought in a new team of salespeople from his former company, Fuze, to replace those who allegedly left due to the high-pressure and difficult environment he fostered. One former staffer lamented, “We started off in the right direction and were very successful, but [with] the pressure to grow employees and revenue, it was never enough to just say we were a fast-growing company. We had to be the fastest-growing.”
At the time the 2018 exposé was published, Byron denied any contentious dealings with staff. He stated he was hired by Cybereason to help the company achieve its next phase of growth, and that this objective required “difficult decisions” that may have “disappointed some individuals.”
Fast forward to 2025, and the “ColdplayGate” scandal has reignited these past allegations. Multiple former Astronomer employees, speaking anonymously to various media outlets, have confirmed that social media groups among ex-staffers “were erupting” with a sense of “karmic justice” after Byron’s public exposure. They described Byron as an “aggressive, sales-obsessed executive” who could be “toxic” in the workplace.
Ry Walker, a co-founder of Astronomer, has commented on the recent events, expressing his surprise and noting that he had always found Byron to be professional in their limited interactions. However, the chorus of former employees speaking out about a pattern of alleged aggressive behavior adds a new dimension to the narrative surrounding Byron’s abrupt exit from Astronomer.
The resurfacing of these claims further complicates the legacy of Andy Byron, transforming the “Coldplay kiss cam” incident from a mere public embarrassment into a catalyst for broader scrutiny of his professional conduct and leadership ethics throughout his career.