New Astronomer CEO Releases Statement After Coldplay Kiss Cam Scandal

Pete DeJoy, the new interim CEO of Astronomer, is reflecting on the aftermath of the viral Coldplay kiss cam scandal involving former CEO Andy Byron.

“Over the weekend, I stepped into the role of Interim CEO at Astronomer, a company that I’ve proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build,” DeJoy wrote in a statement shared via LinkedIn on Monday, July 21. “Over the past few years, our business has experienced incredible growth. What was once a mission to help companies with Apache Airflow has turned into so much more. We’re privileged to sit at the center of our customers’ data & AI strategy, powering data pipelines behind in-game analytics of your favorite sports team, LLM powered chatbots for customer support, training AI for self-driving cars and every mission-critical process in between.”

DeJoy noted that the “events of the past few days” 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. “At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we’ve emerged stronger. From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room. And yet, we’re still here.”

DeJoy shared that Astronomer is still thriving because the company was “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.” He noted that the customers trust Astronomer with their “most ambitious data & AI projects” and that the company is succeeding because “the mission is bigger than any one moment.”

“I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers. Astronomer’s foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written,” DeJoy concluded. “To our team: thank you for your resilience & commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down.”

DeJoy’s statement comes days after Us Weekly confirmed that Byron resigned from his role after he was caught on the jumbotron cozying up to employee Kristin Cabot at Coldplay’s Wednesday, July 16, performance at Gillette Stadium outside Boston. When the cameras panned to the pair embracing, Coldplay frontman Chris Martin called out Byron and Cabot, leading him to duck and her to cover her face in her hands.

“Whoa, look at these two. All right, come on. You’re OK,” Martin, 48, told the audience. “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not quite sure what to do.”

Andy, who is reportedly married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, and Cabot have yet to publicly address their relationship status. Us Weekly reached out for comment. (The New York Post reported that Cabot divorced ex-husband Kenneth Thornby in 2022.)