One year later: The Coldplay ‘kiss cam’ scandal became a ‘gotcha’ moment for HR

When we say HR deserves more news coverage, we don’t mean HR should be the news. Regardless, that’s exactly what happened last summer.

In case you missed it (good on you for being offline!), here’s some context: Andy Byron, the CEO of tech startup Astronomer, was caught embracing a subordinate—Kristin Cabot, his company’s head of HR—on the “kiss cam” at a Coldplay concert outside Boston. A recording of the faux pas went viral on social media. Byron resigned within days, followed by Cabot a week later.

Cabot subsequently revealed in media interviews and speaking engagements that she received dozens of death threats in the wake of the incident and has struggled to find work in her profession. (Byron, she alleged, had offers lined up.)

This wasn’t the first time an executive had been caught in an inappropriate work relationship. (Just two months prior, Kohl’s CEO, Ashley Buchanan, was fired for directing the company to do business with someone with whom he was in an undisclosed relationship.) However, the revelation that one of the two executives was an HR chief may have fueled the incident’s notoriety, HR pros told HR Brew.

“I think it was the specific combination of both the CEO and CHRO that really struck a chord. People often view HR as the ‘rule enforcers’ or even the workplace ‘police,’” Marci LaRouech, CEO and owner of HR management consulting firm Seay HR, told HR Brew.

When people make headlines for bad behavior, news outlets are often quick to note their profession when it adds sensationalism, Tara McAlister, founder of HR consulting firm The People Strategy Group, pointed out. “It’s a bigger news story, and I think that’s kind of what happened with this one. Because it was an HR person canoodling with her supervisor, it became a bigger story,” she said.

The incident certainly didn’t do any favors for a profession that’s already mistrusted by employees and portrayed negatively in media.The practitioners interviewed by HR Brew said those who view HR in such a light may have seen the scandal as a “gotcha” moment or affirmation of their belief that people professionals are hypocrites.

“It’s confirmation bias. They already think we suck, so it’s like, ‘See, this is why you can’t trust them,’” Keirsten Greggs, founder and principal consultant at talent acquisition firm TRAP Recruiter, told HR Brew. She believes the fallout distracted HR professionals and employers from learning lessons around the importance of accountability and addressing risks before they become full-blown scandals.

“The pile on was real. And I think that took away from people like me and others that were trying to make this a learning moment, a call-in moment for HR specifically,” Greggs added. “I think that got overshadowed.”

McAlister questioned if the incident would have garnered the same reaction if Cabot worked in a different profession, recalling a meeting where it was discussed with other HR professionals. “We were talking about how unfortunate it was because they were married, there were kids involved, and it became a bigger deal because she was in HR. If she had been a CIO and he was a CFO, would we have even known about it?”

Greggs wondered what might’ve happened if Cabot and Byron’s roles had been reversed, noting she believes that Cabot received the brunt of the blame and shame because she is a woman.

“At the end of the day, what appeared on screen was both of their responsibilities,” Greggs said, but “if the roles were reversed, if she was the CEO and he was the CPO, would we have reacted differently? Would the joking and the memeing have overridden the actual ‘let’s fix this problem,’ which is what this gave us the opportunity to do?”