The heat is on! The historic Coldplay concert at the Gillette Stadium in the US will go down as one of the most memorable music events in recent times. And the achievement has nothing to do with music! The global controversy has to do with an incriminating image flashed on a jumbo screen during the show. The villain is technology, and a device called the ‘kiss cam’ widely used during concerts to capture candid shots of canoodling couples. It is seen as a harmless distraction—a gimmick nobody takes seriously.
But this time, all hell broke loose when the couple caught on the ‘kiss cam’ turned out to be prominent people on a clandestine date. Add to that the workplace dynamics (he is the CEO of a company where she works as head of HR) and it was war!
Is Andy Byron the first naughty corporate honcho to be caught with his pants down? Surely, Kristin Cabot isn’t the only cheating wife in the US, having a secret nookie with the boss.
Who messed up? I would say, blame Coldplay frontman Chris Martin, who quipped mid-concert, “Either they’re very shy or they are having an affair.” As Andy ducked and Kristin covered her face, they had been outed! And for some unfathomable reason, their relationship became the hottest topic across social media. So many days later, the memes are still rolling in!
Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were caught on the ‘kiss cam’ during a Coldplay concert in the US.
Collateral damage? Plenty. Andy has been suspended. His wife has knocked off his name from social media. A divorce appears imminent. Kristin has stepped down and her recent marriage is facing challenges. All this over an indiscretion? Or, is that undermining the bigger issue of workplace ethics and corporate culture? ‘You can’t date the boss’ is the thumb rule in most companies. ‘Avoid dating colleagues’ is the other one. Both are frequently flouted. To me, the bigger question involves privacy laws. There were over 80,000 people at the concert in Foxborough in Massachusetts. But the law of averages didn’t work for this couple! What were the chances they would be singled out by the roving kiss cam? Negligible. Hello!
Is it acceptable to legitimise such intrusions? Two private individuals were attending a public concert. Where does it say that the price of the ticket includes the rights of organisers to snoop in on the audience and go public with their personal moments? Should kiss cams be banned after this incident?
Chris is a world figure who has been playing with his band for nearly three decades. He has diehard followers who flock to his concerts. His India tour was a smash hit. Their shows in Mumbai and Ahmedabad this January were sellouts.
In 2016, we enjoyed a private audience with the legend in Mumbai. Chris was staying as a guest of the Taj Mahal Hotel for the Global Citizen Festival, and a small pre-concert private party had been arranged at The Chambers. While invitees showed up in bandhgalas and formal suits, there was Chris, looking disheveled and shabby, wearing a crumpled tee, and making polite noises with overawed invitees. Let’s say, it was a moment! Rock stars can afford to look like hobos and behave like errant schoolboys.
Had Chris not made a monumental faux pas about the couple that fateful night, the camera would have swiftly moved on. Had the couple not panicked, but played it cool by waving, nothing might have happened. Andy would still be running Astronomer, with the able support of Kristin. Too late! As of now, a workplace investigation is on, which is ironic! The US should start with the White House. Or get Bill Clinton to comment on the hug & duck Coldplay controversy.
As for us, let’s take a straw poll about wandering cameras at cricket matches zooming in on unsuspecting fans in the stands.
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