Chris Martin has explained why Coldplay will continue using the kisscam at their stadium shows, despite the viral controversy it sparked last month.
The feature made headlines in July when Andrew Byron, CEO of AI startup Astronomer, was caught on the big screen at Coldplay’s Boston concert with his arm around the company’s HR chief, Kristin Cabot. The pair quickly tried to hide their faces, prompting Martin to joke from the stage: “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.”
The clip went viral almost instantly. Public records suggested both Byron, 50, and Cabot, 56, were married to other people, though living separately from their spouses. The fallout was swift: both resigned from Astronomer, which then recruited Martin’s ex-wife Gwyneth Paltrow as a temporary spokesperson in a tongue-in-cheek marketing campaign.
Despite the scandal, Martin made it clear during Coldplay’s show at Sewell Group Craven Park in Hull on Monday that the kiss cam is here to stay.
“It is only recently that it became a… yeah,” he told the crowd, referencing the Astronomer incident. “So yeah, life throws you lemons and you’ve got to make lemonade. We are going to keep doing it because we are going to meet some of you.”
At the same gig, Martin noticed a fan holding a sign that read “three times in three months” and quipped: “You were at that Boston gig. Well, okay, thank you for coming again after that debacle.”
The saga has rippled beyond Coldplay’s fanbase. Country star Morgan Wallen even joked about the scandal during a concert in Arizona, telling the crowd: “Anybody in here with their side chick or whatever, I think you’re safe here. I don’t condone cheating… anymore.”
Meanwhile, Paltrow leaned into the viral frenzy by starring in a LinkedIn video for Astronomer, deadpanning through fan questions before plugging the company’s data services.
As for Byron and Cabot, their futures remain uncertain. Cabot was recently spotted at her New Hampshire home without her wedding ring, while Byron’s wife Megan Kerrigan shut down her social media accounts after the footage blew up online.