Coldplay, kiss cams and the CEO who became a meme

We’re regularly asked to create realistic scenarios for organisations about to take part in our crisis communication courses.

Data breach scenarios are understandably quite often requested in the current climate.

Workplace accidents, historic allegations, supply chain issues, and product recalls also feature regularly.

One scenario we haven’t previously considered – or had requested - is an alleged affair between two senior members of staff being exposed at a Coldplay concert, the footage going viral, and the CEO becoming a meme.

But that’s what happened to tech company Astronomer – as pretty much the whole world now knows.

It found itself in turmoil – and facing an international PR disaster - after CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot appeared to be caught in an embrace by the ‘kiss cam’ at the band’s concert.

feelslikeimfallinginlove? A glimpse of paradise?

Not quite. As the couple saw themselves on screen, they awkwardly jumped out of each other’s arms and tried to get out of view.

Lead singer Chris Martin said: “Oh, what...either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”

Footage of the cringeworthy encounter was quickly shared on TikTok, where it has received millions of views before moving on to other social media, where the couple appeared to be identified.

The internet went into a frenzy. And that captured the interest of traditional media.

The coverage there is almost as endless as the social media posts and memes. In fact, there were 22,000 news articles in the first 24 hours of the crisis.

But here is a taste of the humiliating coverage and memes.

As you can see, this HR nightmare is also a massive PR crisis for a data analytics startup most of us had not heard of until last week.

So, how has the company responded to being thrust into the spotlight?

Well, it said little for around 48 hours.

And that silence has been costly.

Yes, there is an argument it is a personal moment. But it happened in public and went viral, meaning Astronomer was everywhere – and not in a good way.

The coverage has raised concerns about the company’s culture and values, damaging its reputation further and shaping perceptions.

As we always stress during our crisis communication training courses, if you don’t face the music, others will fill the void and take control of the narrative.

For example, the New York Post reported that former employees of Mr Byron were “laughing their ass off”.

One was quoted saying: “The text groups and chains of former employees are like … everybody’s laughing their ass off and enjoying the hell out of what happened and him getting exposed”

Allegations about his behaviour at a previous company – Cybereason – were also picked up by the media.

And there are endless opinion pieces and speculative articles about what the scandal may mean for the company's leadership.

The protracted silence even created space for a fake statement from Mr Byron to be shared on social media.

That plausible sounding statement (we’ve seen worse crisis ones) said: "What was supposed to be a night of music and joy turned into a deeply personal mistake play-out on a very public stage. I want to sincerely apologise to my wife, my family, and my team at Astronomer.”

And it went on to criticise Coldplay, saying: "I also want to express how troubling it is that what should have been a private moment became public without my consent.

“I respect artists and entertainers, but I hope we can all think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else's life into a spectacle."

But the company told journalists it was not real.

What can others learn about crisis communication from this?

Firstly, it is a reminder a crisis can hit your organisation at any time. You are just a viral video away from trending on social media and making damning headlines.

Would you feel prepared if a crisis or unexpected scandal struck your organisation tomorrow?

Do you have a plan in place?

Could you, for example, easily turn off your scheduled social media posts as the crisis breaks?

Could you disable comments on your channels?

Are you sure you are monitoring the channels where the conversations are happening?

The Astronomer crisis also highlights the importance of responding quickly, even if you don’t have all the answers.

Don’t allow the crisis to grow through your silence. It’s not golden. Social media users and journalists will not patiently wait for you to say something.

Have a brief holding statement prepared that you can quickly adapt and release when in crisis media management mode.

In the case of the Astronomer incident, an initial statement acknowledging the video, expressing regret and saying it was being investigated (or that facts are being gathered) could have limited the damage and reduced the spread of speculation, misleading information and fake statements – another one of its employees was widely misidentified as being at the event.

It could have said something early in the crisis, like: “Like many of you, we are aware of the video that is circulating.

“What we have seen in the short clip appears to go against our values.

“We are urgently working to establish the facts, and a full investigation will be carried out.

“We will also review our policies.

“Your trust matters to us, and we will keep you fully informed of the actions we take.

“We expect there to be a further update in… .”

Eventually, the company issued a statement on its social media channels containing little that could not have been said much earlier.

It said: “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.

“The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.

“Alyssa Stoddard was not at the event and no other employees were in the video. Andy Byron has not put out any statement, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect.”

A further statement was put out a day later saying that the CEO had resigned.

It added: “Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI.

“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.”

Great. But thanks to the communication delay, the ‘toughest’ problem it faces at the moment is it is known as the company whose boss became a meme. And that is not going to be easy to shift. 

The other lesson here for public relations and comms professionals surrounds the fake statement.

A fake CEO statement is not something I have seen before in crisis media management.

And it is unnerving how widely it travelled, even in the social media age of fake news and disinformation.

For me, it only adds to the importance of responding quickly when the worst happens.

Don’t leave an information vacuum for others to rapidly fill.

You will only kiss goodbye to control of the narrative – and your reputation.

Media First are media and communications training specialists with nearly 40 years of experience.

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