Pete DeJoy Astronomer: New CEO speaks out on 'media attention' and firm 'now household name' after Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot Coldplay scandal
The new Interim CEO at Astronomer has spoken out after stepping into the new role amid Coldplay kiss cam scandal.
Pete DeJoy took over as CEO at Astronomer after the previous boss Andy Byron resigned last week amid the Coldplay concert controversy. Coldplay's kiss cam showed two people embracing and then quickly hiding from the view of the camera - and social media users widely believe it was previous Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his firm’s HR head Kristin Cabot.
The video set the internet on fire, and everyone has been talking about the incident. None of the people involved has made a public statement about the incident.
Pete DeJoy has now took over as Interim CEO of the company. He posted on LinkedIn yesterday (Monday 21 July): “Over the weekend, I stepped into the role of Interim CEO at Astronomer, a company that I’ve proudly poured my entire professional life into helping build. The events of the past few days have received a level of media attention that few companies—let alone startups in our small corner of the data and AI world—ever encounter.
“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. At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we’ve emerged stronger.”
He added: “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. Our opportunity to build a DataOps platform for the age of AI remains massive. And our story is very much still being written.
“To our team: thank you for your resilience & commitment to building something great. And to our community and customers: thank you for your trust. We won’t let you down.”
One LinkedIn user wrote: “Wonderful statement - rooting for you always my friend!!“. DeJoy, a graduate of Bowdoin College, co-founded Astronomer in 2017. He graduated with dual degrees in Chemistry and Physics from Bowdoin College, and served as the Chief Product Officer, having previously held the position of Vice President of Product.