Coldplay kiss cam controversy: Woman breaks silence, says, 'I made a bad decision'

Kristin Cabot, former HR executive at Astronomer, has spoken publicly for the first time about the viral Coldplay concert moment that changed her life. In July, she was caught on the kiss cam sharing an intimate moment with her then-boss, CEO Andy Byron.

In an interview with *The New York Times*, Cabot called the incident a “bad decision” and said she fully accepts responsibility for what happened. The moment, which quickly spread online, led to her resignation and also triggered divorce proceedings.

"I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss," she told The New York Times. She added, "And it's nothing. And I took accountability, and I gave up my career for that. That's the price I chose to pay."

Cabot, a 53-year-old mother of two, admitted she had a “big happy crush” on Byron. She said the two were separated from their spouses at the time and shared their first and only kiss at the concert. However, the fallout was severe. She faced intense online abuse, death threats, and was labelled a “homewrecker” and “gold digger".

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In another interview with The Times of London, she said, "I could have been struck by lightning, I could have won the lottery, or this could have happened. But I'm not some celebrity, I'm just a mom from New Hampshire."

Addressing the public scrutiny, Cabot said, "Even if I did have an affair, it's not anybody's business."

"It has been like a scarlet letter; people erased everything I'd accomplished in my life and achieved in my career. This can't be the final word."

She also described how the backlash made her unemployable. "I was the most maligned HR manager in HR history."

Recalling the night of the concert, she said she just wanted to enjoy herself, "I wanted to put a cute outfit on and go out and dance and laugh and have a great night."

She described feeling anonymous in the crowd before the camera found them.

"We were sitting in the back of the stadium at the opposite end from the stage in the pitch black, just feeling totally anonymous in an arena of 50, 60,000 people."

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When they appeared on the Jumbotron

"I didn't hear the announcement that the jumbotron was coming, so suddenly I'm just seeing us on screen. My immediate reaction was, 'Holy s-t, Andrew's here,'" she said, referring to her former partner.

"Then a beat later, my mind turns to, 'Oh God, Andy's my effing boss,' this is a bad look."

Cabot said she worried about embarrassing people and the professional consequences that could follow."Boston's not a big town."

She also pointed out that she bore the brunt of public anger.