When Grace, 28, filmed a scene of a couple hugging at a Coldplay concert and posted it on TikTok, she didn’t expect social media to explode and a CEO to resign.
Grace Springer, of New Jersey, is a fan of Coldplay, the popular British rock band formed in 1996. She and a group of friends went to Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts on Wednesday night to see the band in concert. During the familiar kiss-cam sequence that band leader Chris Martin often performs, the camera panned to a couple hugging intimately in the crowd.
“I found their reactions funny, both shy and surprised to be shown on the big screen, so I filmed them and shared them on TikTok. I had no idea who they were,” Grace said. “I just thought it was a funny moment.”
However, after just one night, the video attracted more than 7 million views. By the next day, the number had surpassed 46 million views and nearly 5 million likes.
In the video, leader Chris Martin joked with the audience: “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re very shy,” as the man suddenly let go of his hand, ducked behind the fence, and the woman quickly covered her face and turned away.
Image believed to be Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot being affectionate while watching Coldplay. Photo cut from video
Internet users quickly began searching for the couple’s identities. They discovered that the man was Andy Byron, CEO of a $1.3 billion technology company. The woman was Kristin Cabot, a human resources director who had joined the company nine months ago.
On LinkedIn, the two have praised each other. Byron describes Cabot as a “respected leader” with “deep expertise in talent management,” while Cabot says she “gets energized in conversations with Andy.”
After the video went viral, the couple faced a wave of criticism from the online community. Many people thought they had an affair and were “exposed at the right time”. One comment that attracted a lot of sympathy read: “Sorry for the wife, but glad they were publicly shamed”. Another said: “They had an affair and went to a crowded concert. Unbelievable”.
Video reveals intimate moments of tech CEO
Amid the online storm, Grace admitted she was overwhelmed: “When I posted the video before going to bed, it only had a few thousand views. When I woke up in the morning, it had millions. Everything happened so fast it was unbelievable.”
Grace said she felt guilty about disrupting other people’s lives but thought ‘when you play stupid games you win stupid ‘prizes”.
She stressed that she had no ulterior motives, nor did she know the identities or personal circumstances of the people in the video. “I was just a witness. Everything that happened after that was their own result.”
Grace Springer – the person who accidentally exposed the CEO’s adultery. Photo: The Sun
Under pressure from the public, Astronomer announced an internal investigation. Byron resigned as CEO on July 19. It is unclear whether Kristin Cabot will continue to serve as HR director.
A member of Coldplay’s tour crew confirmed that the moment was completely unstaged. The camera randomly picked people out of the crowd. No one expected the reaction to become a media focus.
“They probably did the math and thought the chances of it appearing on the big screen were extremely low, only 2 to 50,000,” the source said. The source also said the couple’s reaction to being discovered made things worse.
For her part, Grace hopes the incident will serve as a warning to those who bet their faith on anonymity in the crowd.
“I hope their partners can get through this, have a second chance at the happiness they deserve. I hope, for them, my video is a blessing,” she said.
