KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — A US tech company’s chief people officer has resigned after a video went viral showing her and the company’s CEO embracing during a Coldplay concert, the BBC reported today.
Kristin Cabot, who served as Astronomer’s chief people officer, is no longer with the company, the British news agency cited Astronomer as saying in a statement.
Her resignation follows that of CEO Andy Byron, who left the company last week after being placed on leave pending an investigation.
According to the BBC, the identities of the pair in the clip have not been independently confirmed.
However, the video — which showed a man and a woman embracing on a jumbo screen during the concert before ducking out of view — was widely circulated on social media and covered by various US media outlets who identified them as co-workers.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin quipped to the crowd after the moment was caught on screen and widely shared on social media: “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”
The footage quickly went viral online globally, spawning memes and being featured on television shows.
As speculation grew and false statements about the incident surfaced online, Astronomer released a statement announcing an investigation, though it did not refer specifically to the video.
The following day, the company confirmed Byron had resigned.
Astronomer, which specialises in data, analytics and artificial intelligence, has since named co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy as interim CEO.
In a company update, DeJoy acknowledged the unexpected attention.
“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 was quoted by the BBC as saying.
He added that the firm had become a “household” name overnight and would move forward with its commitment to building something great.
