New Astronomer CEO describes ‘unusual and surreal’ attention from Coldplay ‘kiss cam’ scandal

The data company Astronomer has been the focus of an “unusual and surreal” amount of attention after its chief executive was caught in a viral moment at a Coldplay concert last week, the company’s new CEO said in a statement Monday.

Pete DeJoy stepped into the role after the former CEO, Andy Byron, resigned on Saturday following the circulation of the clip of him and a woman in an embrace at the show at Gillette Stadium in Massachusetts last Wednesday.

Coldplay’s “kiss cam” was displaying couples when it panned to a man, later identified as Byron, and a woman, who turned around to hide her face, while Byron quickly ducked out of the frame.

The moment went viral, with users claiming that he’s married. However, NBC News has not independently confirmed this or identified the woman.

DeJoy said that the incident had 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,” he wrote on LinkedIn.

DeJoy continued that Astronomer, a New York-based company with under 500 employees, has “never shied away from challenges,” including navigating financial issues and the global Covid-19 pandemic.

“And yet, we’re still here,” he wrote. “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.”