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Coldplay 'kiss cam' exec Kristin Cabot speaks on camera for first time, accuses tech firms of 'feeding off pain'
Ex-Astronomer HR head Kristin Cabot has spoken publicly on camera for the first time, saying that tech firms profited from her viral Coldplay kisscam moment.
Kristin Cabot, whose life was turned upside down after a “kisscam” moment at a Coldplay concert went viral, has spoken publicly on camera for the first time, accusing technology companies of “feeding off the pain” of people caught in viral moments.
Cabot, 53, stepped down as head of human resources at tech startup Astronomer in July last year after a video showed her cuddling the company’s chief executive, Andy Byron, during a Coldplay concert. The clip, filmed by an audience member, quickly spread across social media, racking up more than a billion views online and becoming one of the most viral clips of 2025.
Now, speaking on Oprah Winfrey’s podcast, which she said would be her only on-camera interview, Cabot said the experience made her realise how much social media companies profit from viral controversies.
“I had no concept of this before, but when something goes this viral, how technology companies are benefiting from this,” she said. “We don’t know that when we’re forwarding and liking and clicking, we’re putting billions of dollars in their pockets and creating an algorithm that feeds it.”
She added that the more distress such viral moments cause to individuals, the more engagement platforms receive. “The more pain someone like me is in, the more money they are going to make. And it fuels it and feeds it. I think there is an accountability there that needs to be looked at,” she said.
Cabot, a mother of two from New Hampshire who said she was separated from her husband at the time, previously revealed that the backlash after the clip spread online was overwhelming. In an interview with The Times in December, she said the video triggered up to 600 phone calls a day in the weeks that followed, including death threats. She also faced a wave of abusive comments online, where she was called a “slut”, a “homewrecker” and a “gold digger”. Cabot said she believes the backlash was heavily gendered and spoke about the emotional toll the episode took on her life.
Kristin Cabot on Gwyneth Paltrow ad
Speaking to Winfrey, she also criticised actor Gwyneth Paltrow, the ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, after the actress appeared in an advertisement for Astronomer in the days following the viral incident. Cabot said the move added to her humiliation. “I’m heartbroken at how women are treating other women,” she said during the interview.
“I’m trying to figure out why we’re eating each other alive? Why do we take such joy in seeing other people suffer? I do believe I got knocked off my course for a reason — how can my experience turn into something positive to keep that conversation alive?” she added.
