Gwyneth Paltrow Becomes Astronomer Spokesperson After Coldplay Scandal
Out of a sky full of stars, Astronomer wants Gwyneth Paltrow on its team.
One week after her ex Chris Martin joked about Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot—then the respective CEO and human resource head of Astronomer—"having an affair" when they hid from the camera at a July 15 Coldplay concert, the Oscar winner weighed in with a humorous take on the matter.
"I've been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer," Paltrow quipped in a video released by the DataOps company July 25. "Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days and they wanted me to answer the most common ones."
But instead of breaking down the cheating speculation surrounding Byron and Cabot, the so-called "temporary spokesperson" started answering questions about data operations.
"We've been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation," Paltrow gushed, before plugging Astronomer's DataOps conference as an answer for "other questions we've received" in the wake of the scandal.
She hilariously cut off Q&A submissions reading, “OMG what the actual f—” and “How is your social media team holding—" to expertly shift the focus back to the brand.
"We will now be returning to what we do best: Delivering game-changing results to our customers," the Iron Man actress added. "Thank you for your interest in Astronomer."
Needless to say, the internet quickly caught onto Astronomer's cheekiness in having Paltrow star in its latest ad.
"Amazing crisis management," one X user wrote, while another commented, "This is quite possibly the best recovery play I’ve seen a company pull off in a while. Way to lean into it lmao."
A third X user praised, "This is a PR masterclass. You take the most viral moment of July 2025 and, instead of disaster control, make light of the situation and create the ultimate brand awareness."
As for Byron and Cabot? The pair—who were seen in a close embrace at the Coldplay concert, before quickly pulling away when they realized they were shown on the jumbotron—have stepped down from their respective roles at Astronomer following their viral moment.
"Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted," the company wrote in a July 19 statement to E! News, adding that the former CEO has failed to meet the company's standards of conduct following an internal investigation. "The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO."
Days later, Cabot also parted ways with the organization. "I can confirm that Kristin Cabot is no longer with Astronomer,” a company rep told NBC News July 24. “She has resigned."
Neither Byron or Cabot have publicly addressed the nature of their relationship or what occurred at the Coldplay concert.
For more a complete breakdown of the scandal, keep reading.
(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Performing at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass., on July 15, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin zeroed in on two people who seemingly sprang out of each other’s arms once they saw that they were on the jumbotron.
“The way we’re going to do that is using our cameras,” Martin told the crowd beforehand. “So, if you look at the screens, we’re going to come looking and see who’s out there to say hello to.” First stop, a young man who was thrilled by an impromptu happy birthday tribute from Martin.
“Oh, look at these two,” the singer said as the camera stopped next on the cozy-looking pair. But then the man ducked and the woman, her hands in front of her face, turned her back to the camera.
“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just really shy,” Martin quipped. “I’m not quite sure what to do.”
As the woman then left her seat, disappearing past the people behind her, the singer added, “Oh s--t! I hope we didn't do something bad.”
The moment was captured for posterity on video by concertgoer Grace Springer and, by the end of the night, internet sleuths had identified the squirrelly pair as Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Astronomer Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. Furthermore, as quickly deduced by TikTokers, X users, et al., Byron and Cabot are both married to other people.
Just moments afterward, Martin asked another pair who showed up on the screen, “OK, listen, are you two a couple? Are you two a legitimate couple?”
Byron and Cabot are now-former coworkers who were spotted together at a Coldplay concert and became the talk of the internet. Neither has made any public comment about the incident so far and an apology purportedly from Byron that circulated online the next day was fake, according to Astronomer.
In their respective lives, Byron was chief executive of data operations company Astronomer—which, contrary to what many assumed at first glance, has nothing to do with space—and Cabot was the firm’s head of human resources.
Astronomer confirmed July 24 to NBC News that Cabot had resigned.
Both have since deleted their LinkedIn pages and multiple outlets have reported that Byron’s wife deleted her Instagram and Facebook accounts. They reportedly share two sons.
Cabot is married to Privateer Rum CEO Andrew Cabot, the sixth-generation descendant of a rum distiller of the same name dating back to the American Revolution, per multiple reports. According to the Boston Globe, Andrew traded in a career in tech to found the spirits company in 2011. They also have two children.
Astronomer is the tech company behind Astro, an operations platform that, per the company’s website, “empowers your team to build, run, and observe data pipelines that just work, all from one place.”
The company was founded in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 2018 and also has offices in San Francisco and San Jose, Calif.
Byron joined the company as CEO in 2023 and Cabot came onboard in 2024.
They raised $93 million in a Series D funding round led by Bain Capital Ventures in May 2025, Astronomer announced at the time, per the New York Post, calling it “just one step in Astronomer’s journey to build a durable, lasting software company.”
The funding raised the firm’s valuation to $740 million, according to the Economic Times.
Astronomer revealed in a July 18 statement that the company’s board of directors had “initiated a formal investigation into this matter” and clarified that the alleged statement making the rounds from Byron was not genuine.
“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding,” the firm said. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability."
The statement also noted that none of the other people seen in the fateful jumbotron video—aside from the pair in question—were Astronomer employees. (The company confirmed separately to the Associated Press that Cabot was the woman with Byron in the video.)
Byron was on leave from Astronomer as of July 18, according to co-founder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy, who was named interim CEO, and then the company announced his resignation the next day.
"Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted,” Astronomer said in a statement to E! News. “The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive,” the statement added, noting DeJoy would continue in his new compounded role.
“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,” DeJoy wrote in a July 21 LinkedIn post. “The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name.”
Martin couldn’t even begin to try to fix what happened, but he’s had some fun with it since.
During the first Coldplay show since the scandal July 19, the English singer once again advised the crowd at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisc., that some of them might end up on the big screen.
“So please,” Martin said, “if you haven’t done your makeup, do your makeup now.”
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