Kristin Cabot, the HR executive busted snuggling with her married boss on the Coldplay concert kiss cam in July, has finally spoken publicly about the incident. Cabot and her boss, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, both ended up losing their jobs as a result of the scandal.
In September, a source close to Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot claimed that despite appearances, they weren’t having an affair. However, both Byron and Cabot were married to other people at the time.
“It’s unfathomable to witness what has happened, and how devastating it can be, for not just individuals, but entire families,” the source told People. “All I can think of is that this could happen to any of us at any time.”
Now, we have some idea of just “how devastating” the situation became for Kristin Cabot. In her first interview since the viral moment, Cabot told the New York Times that she was not in a relationship with her Astronomer boss at the time of the concert. Before that night, they had never kissed.
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay,” she said. “I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.”
Kristin Cabot reveals the aftermath of being caught on the Coldplay kiss cam and going viral
It turns out that Cabot’s estranged husband Andrew was at the same Coldplay concert. When she saw herself on the kiss cam, she immediately thought of him. Of note, he would go on to release a statement confirming he and Kristin were separated at the time of the concert.
“I was so embarrassed and so horrified,” she said. “I’m the head of HR and he’s the CEO. It’s, like, so cliché and so bad.”
In a separate interview with The Times, Kristin Cabot said, “My immediate reaction was, ‘Holy s—, Andrew’s here.’ We were in the middle of an incredibly, and amazingly, amicable separation. I was worried I would embarrass him. He’s an amazing guy and does not deserve that.
“Then a beat later my mind turns to, ‘Oh God, Andy’s my effing boss’, this is a bad look. Boston’s not a big town. And while it wasn’t an Astronomer event or anything, there could have been investors or other staff there.”
Cabot said she and Byron have not spoken since exchanging “crisis management advice” after the video of them went viral. Byron and his wife were pictured having a picnic together on a beach in Maine in late September.
“I’m not some celebrity, I’m just a mom from New Hampshire. Even if I did have an affair, it’s not anybody’s business,” Cabot said. “It has been like a scarlet letter; people erased everything I’d accomplished in my life and achieved in my career. This can’t be the final word.”