Astronomer interim CEO Pete DeJoy has issued a statement about the company’s “unusual and surreal” moment in the spotlight in the wake of his predecessor’s resignation following a viral video taken at a Coldplay concert.
DeJoy shared a statement on LinkedIn on July 21, two days after Astronomer announced that former CEO Andy Byron had resigned from the data operations company.
“The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies โ let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world โ ever encounter,” DeJoy wrote. “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.”
Byron stepped down three days after a clip of a July 16 Coldplay concert in Massachusetts went viral. The video shows two people embracing and then quickly ducking out of sight after realizing they are being projected on the jumbotron at Foxboroughโs Gillette Stadium.
โEither theyโre having an affair or theyโre just very shy,โ Coldplay frontman Chris Martin said on stage during the moment.
Byron was identified by social media users as one of the people in the video. NBC News has not independently verified that Byron was in the footage.
DeJoy was appointed by Astronomer’s board of directors as the company’s interim CEO on July 19 after Byron’s departure.
“Iโm stepping into this role with a wholehearted commitment to taking care of our people and delivering for our customers,” he wrote.
DeJoy added that the company “has never shied away from a challenge” and that its story “is very much still being written.”
Martin did not reference the incident specifically at the band’s show in Wisconsin on July 19 but made sure to give fans a heads-up that the kiss cam portion of the concert was coming up.
โWeโd like to say hello to some of you in the crowd,โ Martin said. โHow weโre going to do that is weโre going to use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen. So please, if you havenโt done your makeup, do your makeup now.โ
