Whoopi Goldberg fiercely defended the former Astronomer CEO who got caught in a romantic embrace at a Coldplay concert, stating that ‘sometimes you can’t help who you want to get on.’
Andy Byron, 50, was spotted on camera at the concert with his arms wrapped around the company’s HR chief Kristin Cabot, 56, on a jumbotron while the band serenaded thousands of fans at Gillette Stadium in Boston on Tuesday.
Naturally, the scandal was the first Hot Topic on Monday’s episode of The View and Whoopi, 69, was particularly sympathetic to the pair.
‘Sometimes you can’t help who you want to get on,’ she commented. ‘Sometimes you just can’t help it. Because she’s not the head of HR in the bed.’
Speaking to co-stars Ana Navarro, Alyssa Farrah Griffin, Sara Haines, and Sunny Hostin, Whoopi appeared to suggest that perhaps the pair wanted to get caught.
‘I don’t know what this is,’ she continued.
‘I don’t know if he was happily married, if she was happily married. I don’t know any of that.
‘But I do know that if you don’t want people to know what you’re doing, don’t take them to concerts.’
Whoopi Goldberg fiercely defended the former Astronomer CEO on The View
Andy Byron, 50, was spotted on camera at the concert with his arms wrapped around the company’s HR chief Kristin Cabot during a Coldplay concert
‘You don’t know who’s in this giant stadium of people. If you’re doing that and you don’t want people to know, what the hell? It’s just too dumb.
‘You got inadvertently what you might’ve been looking for, which was your out.’
Sara meanwhile voiced her sadness for the families of the pair.
‘There are people that are looking at these two individuals and obviously not wanting the damning part for the family,’ she said.
‘I do say my heart goes out to the children and partners of these people who are having to watch this all play out, but the bigger thing people aren’t talking about is how a CEO of a company should never be dating the head of HR.’
Viewers were quick, however, to question Whoopi’s response and her ‘wobbly moral compass’ on social media.
Taking to X – formerly Twitter – to share their view, one said: ‘Whoopi is a mess. The CEO shouldn’t be sleeping with the head of HR.’
Another wrote: ‘Whoopi has a wobbly moral compass. 1) It’s not OK to cheat on your spouse. 2) It’s not OK for a CEO to cheat with a subordinate.’
Sara Haines voiced her sadness for the families of the pair
Byron and Cabot were caught red-faced as the kiss-cam at a Coldplay concert in Boston panned to the CEO with his arms wrapped his subordinate on Tuesday.
The pair immediately ducked and turned from the cameras after realizing their faces were on the big screen.
Since then, the couple have gained infamy thanks to a viral video.
Billion-dollar company Astronomer announced Byron’s resignation in a statement on Saturday.
‘As stated previously, Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,’ the statement said.
‘Andy Byron has tendered his resignation, and the Board of Directors has accepted.’
Cofounder and Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy will stay on as interim CEO.
‘While awareness of our company may have changed overnight, our product and our work for our customers have not. We’re continuing to do what we do best: helping our customers with their toughest data and AI problems.’
Former Astronomer CEO Byron tendered his resignation over the weekend
Public records suggest both Byron, 50, and Cabot, 56, (pictured) are married – but that they live at different addresses to each of their spouses registered abodes
Astronomer acknowledged the awkward situation in the statement announcing Byron’s resignation.
‘Before this week, we were known as a pioneer in the DataOps space, helping data teams power everything from modern analytics to production AI,’ the statement read.
‘While awareness of our company may have changed over night our product and our work for our customers have not.’
Public records suggest both Byron and Cabot are married – but that they live at different addresses to those listed as their spouses.
The new CEO of Astronomer issued a statement announcing his official role on Monday – as he appeared to suggest he’s thrilled about the awkward Coldplay concert cuddling scandal that landed him the job.
Pete DeJoy took to LinkedIn to announce his new and now official role.
‘The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name,’ he wrote.
‘I’m stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers.
‘Astronomer’s foundation remains strong, built around the thriving Apache Airflow community,’ he went on, adding that the company ‘won’t let you down.’
