The Coldplay fan who accidentally exposed a tech tycoon’s apparent affair with his head-of-HR mistresshad a blunt message for the canoodling pair: “Play stupid games … win stupid prizes.”
Grace Springer, 28, filmed the now-viral moment Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his chief human resources officer, Kristin Cabot, were busted on a “kiss cam” embracing at the band’s Boston concertWednesday night — a clip now seen close to 50 million times.
“I had no idea who the couple was,” the Coldplay megafan told the US Sun.
Springer “just thought I caught an interesting reaction to the kiss cam and decided to post it” — with no idea how mega-viral it would soon go.
“A part of me feels bad for turning these people’s lives upside down, but, play stupid games … win stupid prizes.”
The awkward video showed Byron and Cabot scrambling to hide their faces after the jumbotron suddenly panned to them during the concert.
“F–king hell, it’s me,” Byron appeared to say in the video, while his HR chief appeared to mouth, “This is awkward.”
As Cabot flung her hands over her face and Byron ducked down out of view, frontman Chris Martin quipped, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
The “Fix You” crooner later added, “I hope we didn’t do something bad…”
As Springer’s clip exploded on social media, online sleuths quickly found that Byron appeared to be married to Megan Kerrigan Byron, while Cabot had recently divorced her husband, Kenneth Thornby.
“I hope their partners can heal from this and get a second chance at the happiness they deserve with their future still in front of them,” Springer said.
“I hope, for them, my video was a blessing in disguise.”
It wasn’t immediately clear how, or if, the apparent scandal could play out professionally.
Cabot, who was only appointed to her position at the firm in November, previously boasted on LinkedIn that she leads “by example and win[s] trust with employees of all levels, from CEOs to managers to assistants,” and she was “energized” by her conversations with Byron.
Meanwhile, Byron gushed that Cabot was “a proven leader.”
“Kristin’s exceptional leadership and deep expertise in talent management, employee engagement, and scaling people strategies will be critical as we continue our rapid trajectory,” Byron wrote in a memo to staff when she joined the company.
“She is a proven leader at multiple growth-stage companies and her passion for fostering diverse, collaborative workplaces makes her a perfect fit for Astronomer.”
Neither Byron nor Cabot, who both have families of their own, has spoken out yet about the sordid saga.
“The only way it could be worse is if the head of HR was having an affair with someone who worked for her. That’s the only permutation I could think of that could be worse — but this is pretty high up there.”
