Astronomer new interim CEO Pete DeJoy issues BIG statement on viral Coldplay kiss cam scandal, says, 'the past events...'

The Coldplay kiss cam scandal involving Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and HR Head Kristin Cabot, who were caught canoodling and cheating on their partners blowed up and for all wrong reasons. This controversy had way more repercussions than expected, soon Andy Byron resigned from his position as Astronomer CEO, and Pete DeJoy was handed over the responsibility for his role as new interim CEO. Pete DeJoy co-founded Astronomer, Cincinnati-based company in 2017. After he assumed his role as CEO, he posted a full statement on his LinkedIn page.

Astronomer new CEO breaks silence

'Over the weekend, I stepped into the role of Interim CEO at Astronomer, a company that I’ve proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build.

Over the past few years, our business has experienced incredible growth. What was once a mission to help companies with Apache Airflow has turned into so much more. We’re privileged to sit at the center of our customers’ data & AI strategy, powering data pipelines behind in-game analytics of your favorite sports team, LLM powered chatbots for customer support, training AI for self-driving cars, and every mission-critical process in between.

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. 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.

At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we’ve emerged stronger. From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room.

And yet, we’re still here.

We’re here because Astronomer is built by people who live to solve hard problems, stay late to fix what’s broken, and care deeply about doing things the right way. We’re here because our customers trust us with their most ambitious data & AI projects. And, most importantly, we’re here because the mission is bigger than any one moment.

I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers. Astronomer’s foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written.

To our team: thank you for your resilience & commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down.'

The controversy explained

July 17, 2025

A viral video from Coldplay concert at Gillette Stadium in Boston took Internet by storm. Astronomer CEO Andy Byron (now former) and company's HR Head Kristin Cabot were caught in a cozy moment on the 'Kiss cam'. Coldplay's lead singer, Chris Martin, event commented live on stage on this 'couple', 'Oh look at these two,' not knowing the context. As the pair looked shocked and tried to hide their faces, Martin added, 'Oh what… either they’re having an affair or they’re very shy.' This alleged 'extra-marital affair' has now became the hottest topic on the internet. Andy Byron is married to Megan Kerrigan and have two children. On the other had, Kristin Cabot was divorced and no much is known of her relationship.