Andy Byron, the CEO of Astronomer, a data operations startup, has resigned from his position following an extraordinary social media controversy.

Byron, who is married, was photographed on a “kiss cam” at a Coldplay concert with his arms wrapped around the company’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot.
Chris Martin, the lead vocalist of Coldplay, quipped, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” after Byron and Cabot promptly attempted to conceal themselves from the camera.

The video of the humiliating incident quickly went viral. Axios reported on July 18 that 22,000 news articles had been published about the startup over the preceding 24 hours, including 9,000 about Byron himself, citing Muck Rack data.
404 Media argued that the incident is “emblematic of our social media surveillance dystopia” amidst the numerous quips and parodies.

Astronomer, which disclosed in May that it had secured a $93 million Series D, disclosed on July 18 that it had placed Byron on leave.
Pete DeJoy, the company’s cofounder and Chief Product Officer, has assumed the role of interim CEO. Cabot has also been reportedly placed on vacation.

Byron has resigned, as detailed in a more extensive statement released by the company.

Astronomer stated, “Our leaders are expected to establish the standard in both accountability and conduct. Unfortunately, this standard was not recently met.”

“We were recognized as a pioneer in the DataOps space prior to this week, assisting data teams in the powering of a wide range of applications, including modern analytics and production AI,” the company stated.
“Our product and our work for our customers have not changed, despite the fact that awareness of our company may have changed overnight.”