The Coldplay Kiss Cam scandal woman has finally spoken out and taken aim at Gwyneth Paltrow while recounting her harrowing experience. Former Astronomer HR chief Kristin Cabot has criticized the Oscar winner after Paltrow appeared in a tongue-in-cheek Astronomer ad that referenced the controversy that upended Cabot’s life.
Kristin Cabot slams Gwyneth Paltrow after Astronomer ad
Kristin Cabot, who resigned from Astronomer following the viral Coldplay Kiss Cam moment, finally opened up about what happened during the fallout. Cabot and then-Astronomer CEO Andy Byron were caught on the venue’s kiss cam, which Chris Martin said looked like an “affair.”
As the scandal spread online, Astronomer leaned into the attention by releasing a promotional video featuring Gwyneth Paltrow as its “temporary spokesperson.” The casting drew immediate notice because Paltrow is the ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin. The video avoided directly addressing the kiss cam incident, instead humorously redirecting viewers toward the company’s business and upcoming events.
Cabot told The Times that Paltrow’s participation deeply disappointed her, particularly given her long-standing admiration for the actor and Goop, the wellness brand Paltrow founded. Cabot even discarded her Goop products in protest. “I was such a fan of her company [Goop], which seemed to be about uplifting women,” Cabot said. “And then she did this. I thought, ‘How dare she, after the beating she got for all the conscious uncoupling stuff.’ What a hypocrite.”
Paltrow’s Astronomer video opens with her saying, “Thank you for your interest in Astronomer. Hi, I’m Gwyneth Paltrow. I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer.” She then pivoted to a scripted explanation of the company’s data automation work and sidestepped the controversy entirely.
Cabot told The New York Times that she struggled privately during the height of the backlash and hoped for a more empathetic intervention from someone with public influence. While emphasizing that she does not excuse the men involved, she described wishing for “a rational voice to step in and say, ‘Wait a minute.’”
Originally reported by Devanshi Basu on Mandatory.
