Coldplay Concert Scandal Woman Breaks Silence After Death Threats and Career Loss

The Viral Moment That Changed Everything

Kristin Cabot, 53, told The New York Times in an interview published Thursday that the "kiss cam" video -- filmed at the July 16 Coldplay concert in Boston by a fellow concertgoer and shared on TikTok -- and the ensuing scandal deeply impacted her life. In the viral "kiss cam" video, Cabot and Byron, who both worked at Astronomer at the time, are seen embracing on a VIP balcony before realizing their faces are being shown on the concert Jumbotron. Cabot quickly covers her face with her hands as Byron ducks out of frame. Either they're having an affair or they're just very shy," Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin joked to the crowd during the show after seeing Cabot and Byron on the kiss cam.

"I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That's the price I chose to pay." The viral incident led to Cabot's resignation from the tech company Astronomer, where she previously served as the head of HR, as well as the resignation of former Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who was also seen in the viral video.

She was not in a sexual relationship with her boss, she said. Before that night, they had never even kissed. The mom of two, who said she was newly separated from her husband at the time of the incident, added, "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."

Harassment and Death Threats

Her phone rang constantly—up to 600 calls per day at the peak. She received at least 50 death threats, including one person who claimed they knew where she shopped and wrote: "I'm coming for you." Paparazzi created what she described as a "parade" outside her house. Her two children—ages 16 and 14—became so frightened they feared their mother would be killed. They refused to be picked up from school by her or attend sports games.

She recalled the time a woman approached her while pumping gas and called her "the lowest form of human," and once when her daughter was reduced to tears because strangers were taking pictures of them. Cabot said the viral moment resulted in death threats, including one she played for her mother on speakerphone that was overheard by her children. "They were already in really bad shape, and that's when the wheels fell off the cart," she said. "Because my kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die."

Cabot said she also felt particularly targeted by other women in the aftermath of the "kiss cam" video spreading. "What I've seen these last months makes it harder for me to believe that it's all about the men holding us back," she said. "I think [women] are holding ourselves back tremendously by cutting each other down."

Professional and Personal Fallout

She said she decided to speak up now in part because she wanted her side of the story to be known before rumors about her character or marriage, or any assumptions that she was "sleeping around" to advance her career, were set in stone. "I think as a woman, as women always do, I took the bulk of the abuse. People would say things like I was a 'gold-digger' or I 'slept my way to the top', which just couldn't be further from reality… I worked so hard to dispel that all my life and here I was being accused of it," Kristin Cabot added.

Speaking to The Times, Kristin Cabot said she was now searching for new employment but had been told she was "unemployable." Cabot said that nearly six months after the Coldplay concert, she's still picking up the pieces of her life, including searching for a new job. The harassment never ended.

Moving Forward with Lessons Learned

"I'm sure a lot of people will say, 'This is such a dead story, why bring it back up?' " she told The Times. "But it's not over for me, and it's not over for my kids. Her central message is about proportionality. She believes the punishment should not involve death threats.

"You didn't kill anybody," she recalled her friend telling her. "I hope all these people that are commenting have never made a mistake." The