Female exec captured in viral Coldplay concert clip resigns

A US tech company’s chief people officer who was apparently caught on a big screen at a Coldplay concert embracing the company’s CEO has resigned.

Kristin Cabot, Astronomer’s chief people officer, is no longer with the company and has resigned, the firm told the BBC in a statement.

Her departure follows that of Andy Byron, the company’s former CEO, who left last week after the company announced he would be placed on leave and investigated. The BBC has been unable to independently confirm the identities of either person in the clip.

It shows a man and a woman, who were identified by US media as the co-workers, embracing on a jumbo screen at the arena before they abruptly ducked and hid.

After seeing the pair abruptly try to hide from the camera, Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin said to the crowd: “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”

The video, which showed the pair swaying to music at the concert before trying to hide, gained millions of views on social media. It was then shared across platforms, turned into memes and made fun of on television programmes.

As internet sleuths attempted to identify the pair and fake statements surfaced about the incident, Astronomer put out a statement announcing an investigation into the matter, without specifying the video, and said its CEO would be placed on leave.

The following day, the company announced Mr Byron resigned.

The company, which deals with data, analytics and artificial intelligence, announced co-founder and chief product officer Pete DeJoy was appointed interim CEO.

“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,” Mr DeJoy said in an update after taking the reins.

He noted the company became a “household” name almost overnight and would continue on its path forward and “commitment to building something great”.

By BBC News