Coldplay's Chris Martin sends telling warning to fans in first concert since CEO 'kiss cam' scandal
Joe Yates
Featured Image Credit: Getty Images/NBC
Chris Martin issued a warning to Coldplay fans after the CEO of a billion-dollar company was forced to resign after he appeared on a kiss cam at a previous show.
Andy Byron went viral last week, after the former boss of the data infrastructure firm Astronomer was caught on the jumbotron with his hands wrapped around the business' chief people officer Kristin Cabot, as the pair swayed to the music at a gig in Massachusetts, on Wednesday (July 16).
As the camera panned over to the two of them, the 48-year-old frontman can be heard saying 'oh, look at these two' - but upon realizing they were on the big screen Byron ducked out of shot while Cabot turned her back to the stage.
Their reaction was due to Byron having a wife, Megan Kerrigan - who has reportedly dropped Byron's surname from her social media accounts, and two children at home.
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A confused Martin then said: "Oh, what? Either they're having an affair or they're just really shy… I'm not quite sure what to do."
Now, in their first performance since the incident, Martin was seen making jest of the scandal in fan recorded footage.
"We'd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd," the singer told fans at the Camp Randall Stadium, in Madison, Wisconsin, on Saturday.
"How we're gonna do that is we're gonna use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen."
He is then seen smiling to himself as laughter can be heard throughout the crowd, before joking: "So please, if you haven't done your makeup, do your makeup now."
The account who posted the footage, @weeklycoldplay, later added: "ALSO ZERO COUPLES WERE SHOWN ON JUMBOTRON LMAO."
That's probably for the best.
Byron has since stepped down from his post with Astronomer, after the company issued a statement on Friday revealing that it had opened up a formal investigation.
Confirming that Byron would no longer represent the firm, a statement from Astronomer read: "As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met.
"Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted. The Board will begin a search for our next Chief Executive as Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy continues to serve as interim CEO.
"Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI."
It continued: "While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not.
"We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems."