Singer Chris Martin has confirmed that he will not remove the kiss cam from Coldplay's performances after the incident that accidentally showed tech CEO Andy Byron hugging his lover.
During a concert in the UK on August 18, Chris Martin defended his decision: "We've been doing this for a long time, it's only recently become... You know. Life can bring you unwanted things, but you have to turn them into something positive. So we will continue to use the kiss cam because thanks to that, we can meet and interact with you."
The Kiss Cam is a live camera that scans the audience and projects images of couples onto the big screen (Jumbotron) of the stadium or arena. When the camera focuses on any couple, their image will be shown in close-up with heart effects and romantic music. The audience starts cheering and encouraging them to kiss in front of the camera. If they refuse, they can also receive happy laughter from the audience. Kiss cam has been used by Coldplay for many years at concerts, helping frontman Chris Martin connect and interact happily with the audience.
During the interaction with fans on Monday, the famous band's leader read out loud some signs from fans, including one who revealed that he had seen Coldplay three times in three months. "You were at the show in Boston, right?" Martin asked, then wittily added: "Thanks for coming back after that trouble."
The 48-year-old singer was referring to the incident when Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was caught being intimate with HR manager Kristin Cabot at a concert in Boston, Massachusetts, on July 16. The couple ran away in panic when they saw their images on the big screen. Their reaction surprised the audience. Not knowing who the two characters were, singer Chris Martin joked, "Oh, what's wrong with them? Either they're having an affair or they're just really shy."
The incident became even noisier when people discovered that Byron and Cabot were both married. After the video went viral, Andy's wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, deleted her husband's name on Facebook before closing her account. As for Kristin, she is believed to be the wife of Andrew Cabot, CEO of Privateer Rum.
Immediately after the scandal, both Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were suspended while the company Astronomer opened an investigation. Less than 24 hours later, Page Six confirmed that Andy had submitted his resignation. An astronomer issued a statement stressing, "The company's leaders are expected to set an example of behavior and responsibility. Recently, that standard has not been met."
At the next concert on July 19, Chris Martin warned fans to be careful because they might accidentally appear on the kiss cam. "We want to say hello to some of you in the audience today. We're going to do it by using the cameras and putting some of you on the big screen. So if you haven't put on makeup, put it on now," Chris Martin joked, cleverly avoiding directly mentioning the cheating scandal the day before.