It’s been five months since the internet first went into a frenzy over the so-called #coldplaygate — the kiss cam scandal at a July Coldplay concert that made international news. After Kristin Cabot, the woman at the center of the ordeal, broke her silence this week, people on social media began debating the situation... again.
In a profile published in the New York Times on Thursday, Cabot reflected on the viral moment and how her life has changed since. To recap: Cabot, then the head of HR at tech company Astronomer, was spotted on a jumbotron at the concert at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, cozied up with her boss, Andy Byron, then the CEO of the company. Once Cabot and Byron realized they were on the big screen, the pair could be seen scrambling to separate and hide their faces.
Their reaction prompted lead singer Chris Martin to quip onstage at the time: “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.” A clip of the two on the jumbotron was posted on TikTok and it quickly went viral, amassing over 60 million views within the next 48 hours. Cabot and Byron’s identities were revealed by internet sleuths shortly after the kiss cam clip surfaced online.
Cabot told The Times that she’s faced harsh comments online from people calling her names like slut and homewrecker. She said she was doxxed, received death threats and faced insults from people while out in public. Cabot claimed that both she and Byron were separated from their spouses at the time of the concert, and that that night was the first and only time they had kissed. Both Byron and Cabot resigned from Astronomer in the aftermath of the scandal.
