So, the stars must be having a little fun with Astronomer right now — because nothing screams cosmic irony louder than a tech company named “Astronomer” getting caught in a viral kiss-cam scandal at a Coldplay concert. With CEO Andy Byron and HR head Kristin Cabot stepping down amid the drama, you’d expect a blackout on PR. Instead, they’ve handed the mic to none other than Gwyneth Paltrow, who’s cheekily fielding questions as their temporary spokesperson. Is Mercury in retrograde stirring up romantic chaos or just delivering a masterclass in crisis management wrapped in a wink? Either way, this saga’s got more twists than a horoscope on a rollercoaster ride. LEARN MORE
Astronomer has called in the most unlikely of celebrities to help in the midst of a crippling PR crisis.
The company has been plunged into crisis over the last ten days after its CEO, Andy Byron, was caught cosying up to the firm’s chief people officer, Kristin Cabot, at a Coldplay gig in the US.
In the footage of their embrace, which went viral and spawned countless memes, the band’s frontman Chris Martin jokingly told the audience: “Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy.”
The pair have since both resigned from their positions at the tech firm, while other staff members are stepping into their roles on an interim basis.
Amid the loss of two of its bigwigs, Astronomer has now played the only card it could do – roping in Gwyneth Paltrow to star in a facetious clip to try and save its reputation.
Both Andy Bryon and Kristin Cabot have since resigned from their positions at Astronomer (TikTok/@instaagrace)
The actress, 52, has been hired ‘on a very temporary basis’ by Astronomer to stand in as a spokesperson in wake of the so-called ‘Coldplay couple’ controversy.
In a hilarious tongue-in-cheek video, she answers a string of questions which have been posed to the AI startup in wake of the kiss-cam scandal at her ex-husband’s concert.
In the one-minute clip, which was shared on social media alongside the caption ‘thank you for your interest in Astronomer’, the Goop founder is introduced as the company’s ‘temporary spokesperson’.
Paltrow then tells the camera: “Hi, I’m Gwyneth Paltrow. I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer.
“Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days. And they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
Gwyneth Paltrow appears in the tongue-in-cheek clip as Astronomers ‘temporary spokesperson’ (X/@astronomerio)
Showing off her media training, Paltrow then gives us all a lesson on how to dodge awkward enquiries – as when a tricky question flashes up on screen for her to answer, she expertly swerves it.
The first one reads: “OMG! What the actual f…”
The Shallow Hal star then responds: “Yes, Astronomer is the best place to run Apace Airflow! Unifying the experience of running data, ML and AI pipelines at scale.
“We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation. As for the other questions we’ve received…”
The next one which appears states: “How is your social media team holding…”
The ad covers questions most people will have had for the company (X/@astronomerio)
Again, Astronomer’s stopgap spokesperson avoids answering by instead saying: “Yes! There’s still room available at our Beyond Analytics event in September.
“We will now be returning to what we do best, delivering game-changing results for our customers. Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.”
Talk about damage control, eh?
Social media users have praised Astronomer for leaning into the kiss-cam scandal, saying it was a ’10/10 response’ to the situation.
One person said: “This might be one of the greatest cases of crisis management you’ll see in a while. This will definitely be used as a case study in schools for years to come. The fact that they used Chris Martin’s ex-wife for this makes it even more incredible!!!”
Another wrote: “You hired the Coldplay singer’s ex-wife. Extraordinary,” while a third added: “Wait this is actually a fantastic response.”
A fourth chimed in: “Guys this is a PR masterclass. You take the most viral moment of July 2025 and, instead of disaster control, make light of the situation and create the ultimate brand awareness. Bravo.”
I wonder if Paltrow is available for weddings and bah mitzvahs as well?
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