A video from a Coldplay concert in New York has gone viral, after an awkward moment between the CEO of technology company Astronomer, Andy Byron, and a colleague of his was shown on the giant screen on stage.
The pair were caught in a moment of suspicious intimacy, and once they realized they were being shown live, they awkwardly tried to avoid the camera – but it was too late.
The footage quickly spread on social media, becoming one of the most commented videos of the week. Public reactions were more comical than indignant – no one was really shocked, but the moment was used massively for memes and irony on the internet.
Faced with the virality of the situation, Byron released an emotional statement on July 17, where he publicly apologized for “a deep personal mistake that occurred on a very public stage.”
“I want to sincerely apologize to my wife, my family, and the team at Astronomer. You deserve better from me as a partner, as a father, and as a leader,” he writes.
“This is not the person I want to be, nor the way I want to represent the company I helped build. I am taking time to reflect, take responsibility, and figure out the next steps, both personally and professionally.”
He expressed his displeasure that the moment was made public without his consent: “I hope we all think more deeply about the impact of turning someone else’s life into a spectacle.”
His statement ends with an emotional quote from Coldplay’s song “Fix You”: “The lights will guide you home, they will light your bones and I will try to fix you.”
But while he requested privacy and reflection, the network continued to turn the moment into a meme as an embarrassing and viral moment.
