BONUS EPISODE: Coldplay kisscam HR boss on the 16 seconds that ruined her life
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 19 December 2025
⏱️ 17 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Married mother of two Kristin Cabot speaks for the first time about being caught on a kisscam embracing her married boss, Andy Byron, at a Coldplay concert. The video went viral as people wrongly suspected adultery between a tech CEO and his head of HR, drawing online mockery, abuse and threats. In a Times exclusive, our chief US reporter Josie Ensor interviewed Cabot to ask her side of the story.
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Guest: Josie Ensor, chief US reporter, The Times.
Producers: Harry Stott, Sophie McNulty.
Read more: Coldplay kisscam HR boss Kristin Cabot on 16 seconds that ruined her life
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | From The Times and the Sunday Times, this is the story. I'm Josie Ensoe. In the space of 16 seconds |
| 0:11.0 | in July of this year, Kristen Cabot's life was turned upside down. Oh, look at these two. All right, |
| 0:18.2 | come on. The married mother of two was enjoying a Coldplay concert in a stadium near Boston in Massachusetts, |
| 0:24.2 | when her face was suddenly beamed up onto the screens. |
| 0:27.5 | A kiss cam had spotted her swing in the arms of a man behind her. |
| 0:31.7 | Trouble was. It wasn't her husband she was embracing. |
| 0:35.0 | It was her also married boss. |
| 0:40.4 | Kristen hides her face in her hands. |
| 0:46.6 | Her boss, Andy Byron, ducks down out of sight. Coal placing a Chris Martin awkwardly surmises what's going on. Either they're having an affair or they're just very shun. The video had all the |
| 0:52.6 | ingredients for viral fame, suspected adultery between a tech CEO and his head of HR. |
| 0:59.3 | Within days, some 150 million people had viewed it. |
| 1:03.9 | Well, this is going viral, as I mentioned, a video from a recent Coldplay concert is sparking affair rumors. |
| 1:09.8 | If you're going to have an affair, why would you bring her to a concert in public where everybody can see you? |
| 1:14.3 | Imagine being called out by Chris Martin during a concert. |
| 1:17.9 | I found thousands of people. |
| 1:20.0 | The fallout for Cabot and Byron was brutal. |
| 1:22.8 | Internet sleuths found out their identities and they were mocked relentlessly online. Both lost |
| 1:28.8 | her jobs at the tech startup astronomer. Cabot was called a homewrecker. She received |
| 1:33.8 | threats that she would meet a violent end. A local radio station even shared her address. |
| 1:38.7 | You really feel terrible for her. How are her kids doing? |
| 1:41.5 | They were severely impacted by this. They still are. She says they are |
| 1:45.1 | embarrassed to be seen with her. I have a contact in PR who represents women monstered by the media. |
... |
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