A woman who went viral because of a Coldplay kiss cam moment is speaking publicly for the first time, detailing how a few seconds on screen spiraled into career loss, online abuse, and lasting personal consequences.
Kristin Cabot breaks silence after viral Coldplay kisscam scandal
Kristin Cabot has broken her silence months after a brief on-camera moment with her boss at a Coldplay concert ignited what became known online as #coldplaygate. In her first interview since the incident, Cabot told The New York Times that the fallout cost her job, exposed her to intense harassment, and permanently altered her life.
“I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss,” Cabot said. “And it’s not nothing. I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay.”
The moment occurred on July 16 during Coldplay’s show at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts. Cabot and Astronomer CEO Andy Byron appeared on the stadium’s kiss cam with his arms around her. Both attempted to hide, while Coldplay frontman Chris Martin joked from the stage that they might be having an “affair.” The clip quickly went viral, amassing more than 100 million views.
Cabot said the online response was relentless. She recalled being labeled “a sl*t,” “a homewrecker,” and “a gold digger.” Strangers scrutinized her appearance, doxxed her, and flooded her with calls, sometimes receiving 500 to 600 a day. Paparazzi waited outside her home, and she received death threats. Weeks later, a stranger confronted her at a gas station, calling her “disgusting” and telling her she did not “deserve to breathe the same air.”
The impact extended to her children, who became fearful of being seen with her in public. “My kids were afraid that I was going to die and they were going to die,” she said. “That’s when the wheels fell off the cart.”
Now divorced, Cabot says her contact with Byron has been minimal.
