Coldplay fan issues brutal response after exposing CEO’s ‘affair’

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The Coldplay fan who exposed an alleged affair between Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his chief human resources officer, Kristin Cabot, had a six-word response after she busted the apparent cheaters: “Play stupid games … win stupid prizes.”

In an interview with the U.S. Sun, Grace Springer addressed the now-viral moment she filmed at Coldplay’s Wednesday night concert in Boston, in which Byron and Cabot were caught canoodling on a “kiss cam” mid-way through the concert.

“I had no idea who the couple was,” Springer told the outlet of her clip that has been viewed more than 53 million times on TikTok.

As faces in the sold-out crowd were shown on giant video boards inside Gillette Stadium, the band’s singer, Chris Martin, seemed taken with Byron and Cabot when the cuddling couple popped up on the screen.

“Ohhh look at these two!” Martin said playfully, as the pair embraced one another. But as soon as they were shown, the grey-haired Byron dove out of view quickly, while the blonde Cabot shielded her face and turned away. “Alright, c’mon. You’re OK,” the frontman continued as they tried to hide themselves.

“Oh oh, what?” Martin said, when he realized they were desperately trying not to be shown. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure … I hope we didn’t do something bad.”

Martin, 48, later made a lighthearted joke about the gaffe when another man and woman were shown on the screen.

“OK, listen, are you two a couple? Are you two a legitimate couple?” he quipped.

After racking up millions of views on TikTok and X, social media users became convinced the two were cheating on their significant others and it didn’t take long before several Internet sleuths claimed to have identified the companions.

“I think somebody got caught cheating at a Coldplay concert,” one person wrote on X, while another added, “Having your affair go viral & public at a f***ing Coldplay concert is so f***ing funny to me.”

Springer, who captioned her clip “Trouble in paradise?” told the Sun she had no inkling the exchange would become such a massive viral sensation.

“I caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it,” she said. 

It didn’t take long for online investigators to identify the alleged pair.

X user Mrs. SpaceX shared photos from the duo’s purported LinkedIn pages with claims that they worked for the same company.

The U.S. Sun identified the partners as Byron and Cabot — the CEO and HR head, respectively, of Astronomer, a software development company.

On Cabot’s LinkedIn page, she boasts that she builds “trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants,” while Byron is described by one endorser as “a highly inspirational, motivational and experienced sales professional.”

“Coldplay,” “Astronomer” and “Chief People Officer” all became trending topics on X by late Thursday morning, with “Andy Byron” a top search term on Google.

Fans also rallied around Byron’s jilted wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, after online detectives revealed her identity.

“Andy Byron‘s wife has now dropped her married name on Facebook and left comments open on her Facebook!” Mrs. SpaceX wrote.  

Kerrigan later deleted her Facebook page but screenshots that were shared to social media showed she had dropped her married name. She also closed her Instagram account.

Springer admits to having some guilt for exposing Byron and Cabot, but says in the end the embarrassment the two are now facing is of their own making.

“A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games … win stupid prizes,” she said. “I hope their partners can heal from this and get a second chance at the happiness they deserve with their future still in front of them. I hope, for them, my video was a blessing in disguise.”

Springer said after the show’s end, people exiting the outdoor venue were still talking about the moment.

“It was definitely a hot topic, but no one knew who they were,” Springer said.

But she found Martin’s banter during the brief interlude amusing and decided to share it to her TikTok, where she goes by the handle @instaagraace.

“When I posted late last night before bed it was picking up traction with a couple thousand views. I woke up to seven million. Now over 30 million. Overwhelmed to say the least,” she said.

By Friday morning, her video had piled on millions more views and likes and spawned thousands of comments.

Springer later took to her Instagram Stories to jokingly ask for help paying off her student loans.

“You’re all so welcome for today’s entertainment,” she wrote. “Want to show your gratitude? Help me, who is just a girl, pay off $80,000 in student loans.”

Meanwhile, with Byron’s marriage apparently in shambles, a former colleague called him a “toxic” leader and said that other people they had worked with are “laughing their ass off” at his public humiliation.

“The text groups and chains of former employees are like … everybody’s laughing their ass off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed,” the source told the New York Post.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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