It was sixteen seconds of footage that traveled around the globe faster than any corporate memo. Now, months after a viral “kiss-cam” moment at a Boston Coldplay concert effectively ended her career, Kristin Cabot, the former Chief People Officer of tech firm Astronomer, has broken her silence to describe a life dismantled by death threats, doxxing, and a legacy she fears has made her “unemployable.”
In a series of candid interviews with The New York Times and The Times of London, the 53-year-old mother of two addressed the July incident for the first time, framing it not as a romantic scandal, but as a cautionary tale of how the internet’s “moral police” can permanently erase a lifetime of professional achievement.
‘A Bad Decision and a Couple of High Noons’
The video, which amassed over 150 million views on TikTok, showed Cabot embracing Astronomer’s then-CEO Andy Byron on a stadium balcony at Gillette Stadium. When the pair realized they were on the Jumbotron, they ducked away in a panic—a reaction that prompted Coldplay frontman Chris Martin to quippily suggest they were “either having an affair or just very shy.”
- The Reality: Cabot clarified that while she had a “big happy crush” on Byron, they were not in a sexual relationship and had never even kissed before that night.
- The Context: She stressed that both she and Byron were amicably separated from their respective spouses at the time. “I wanted to put a cute outfit on and go out and dance and feel normal,” Cabot said, admitting she had consumed a few “High Noon” hard seltzers.
- The Regret: “I made a bad decision… and acted inappropriately with my boss,” she admitted. “I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”
A Campaign of Terror
While the corporate fallout was swift—Byron resigned and Cabot eventually stepped down after an internal investigation—the digital aftermath has been far more sinister. Cabot described the backlash as a “gendered pile-on,” noting that she bore the brunt of the abuse while the CEO faced significantly less public vitriol.
- Death Threats: Cabot revealed she received upwards of 60 death threats, with some strangers sending messages detailing her daily routines. One chilling note warned: “I know you shop at Market Basket and I’m coming for you.”
- The Impact on Children: The harassment extended to her two teenagers, who became afraid to leave the house. Cabot recalled her children overhearing a threatening voicemail and fearing for their lives. “It’s not over for me, and it’s not over for my kids,” she said.
- Professional Erasure: Despite decades in senior HR leadership, Cabot says she has been told by recruiters that she is “unemployable.” She described the viral clip as a “scarlet letter” that has allowed strangers to ignore her years of hard work and label her a “gold-digger” or “homewrecker.”
Mockery from Hollywood
Cabot also expressed deep hurt over how her former employer and even celebrities leaned into the scandal. She specifically called out actress Gwyneth Paltrow, who appeared in an Astronomer advertisement shortly after the incident, mocking the “conscious uncoupling” of the company’s leadership.
“I was such a fan of her company [Goop], which seemed to be about uplifting women,” Cabot said. “And then she did this. I thought, ‘How dare she… what a hypocrite.'” Cabot noted she threw out all her Goop products in protest.
As she attempts to find a new path, Cabot’s story serves as a haunting reminder for HR professionals and executives alike: in the age of the Jumbotron and TikTok, a private lapse in judgment can become a public life sentence. “I’m not some celebrity,” Cabot lamented. “I’m just a mom from New Hampshire.”