Astronomer’s Interim CEO Speaks Out on ‘Surreal’ Attention

Talk about starting a job at a challenging time.

Pete DeJoy, the interim CEO of Astronomer, has spoken out about the scandal roiling the tech company.

His predecessor, Andy Byron, recently resigned after a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert showed Byron embracing the firm’s HR head, Kristin Cabot. After realizing they were on camera, Byron and Cabot tried to hide or dart off camera, igniting a viral internet meme.

“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies—let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world—ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote in a post on Monday. “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.”

The clip of the incident went viral last week, and Astronomer said in a statement Friday that Byron was placed on leave and that DeJoy, cofounder and chief product officer, was made interim CEO. The company also said the board had initiated a formal investigation.

The company announced a day later that Byron had submitted his resignation and that the board would begin searching for his replacement, with DeJoy filling the position in the interim.

“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,” DeJoy wrote in his post Monday.

The incident has been making the rounds on the internet, with companies and brands’ social pages even getting in on the action. At various sports games over the weekend, fans memed the moment with over-the-top reenactments of the incident during that were shown on jumbotrons.

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