The woman at the centre of the infamous Coldplay kisscam scandal has publicly condemned Hollywood actress Gwyneth Paltrow, branding her a "hypocrite" for weighing in on the viral drama.
The Viral Moment That Changed Everything
Kristin Cabot, a 53-year-old former executive at tech firm Astronomer, has broken her silence for the first time since a 16-second video from a July Coldplay concert catapulted her into a global spotlight. The clip, filmed by another concertgoer and posted to TikTok, showed Cabot being held from behind by her married boss, Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, as they appeared on the stadium's 'Kiss Cam'.
As the jumbotron focused on them, frontman Chris Martin quipped, “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” prompting the pair to try and hide their faces. The moment, witnessed by roughly 50,000 concertgoers, swiftly became one of the most viral videos of all time, with millions more viewing it online.
Gwyneth Paltrow's Controversial Involvement
Amid the fallout, Gwyneth Paltrow, also 53, became involved by starring as a "temporary spokesperson" for Astronomer in a PR parody video. This move incensed Kristin Cabot, who was a fan of Paltrow's wellness brand, Goop.
"I was such a fan of her company, which seemed to be about uplifting women. And then she did this," Cabot told The Times. "I thought, 'How dare she after the beating she got for all the conscious uncoupling stuff...' What a hypocrite!" Paltrow famously used the term "conscious uncoupling" when she split from Coldplay's Chris Martin over a decade ago.
To show her fury, Cabot revealed she has discarded all of her Goop products.
A Life Unraveled
Cabot, a mother-of-two from New Hampshire, now living in Boston, described the profound devastation caused by the clip. "I could have been struck by lightning, I could have won the lottery, or this could have happened," she said, admitting the moment has ruined her life.
She maintains it was the first time she and Byron, who she says were both amicably separated from their spouses, had physically embraced. Despite this, the public assumption of an affair has had severe consequences. Cabot says she has been rendered 'unemployable', lost friends, and her children are too embarrassed for her to take them to school or sports events.
"It has been like a scarlet letter; people erased everything I’d accomplished in my life and achieved in my career," she stated. "This can’t be the final word." She also revealed the horrific toll of online abuse, gossip at the school gate, and even strangers shouting abuse in the street.
In a tearful conclusion, Cabot expressed one wish: "We have to be kinder to each other, not constantly tear one another down." Andy Byron has previously maintained he was separated from his wife when the incident went viral.
