Kristin Cabot, the former HR leader at technology company Astronomer, has finally commented on the viral incident that derailed her career. Speaking to leading news publication, she spoke about the “bad decision” that made her a global meme and the “most maligned HR manager in history.”
This happened in July, when Kristin was attending a Coldplay concert in Boston. Kristin, aged 53, was caught on the stadium’s giant television screen, indulging in a close embrace, including a 16-second kiss, with her then superior, CEO Andy Byron. When the incident occurred, Kristin reveals that she was feeling ‘on top of the world’, feeling anonymous in a crowd of 60,000 people. Yet, this single momentary lapse led to the resignation of both executives.
In relating her own experiences, Kristin, with two children and living in New Hampshire, showed the consequences have been calamitous. "I was shamed. It was a scarlet letter kind of thing. I'd worked all those years, and I just tossed it out the window. I made a bad choice. and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay," she said. Despite the fact that she and Byron were both separated at the time, Kristin was bombarded with vicious messages online, with the term "gold digger" appearing frequently.
The ex-executive was particularly vocal about how gendered the backlash was. "Byron also stepped down. I took the brunt of the abuse. I mean, I was called a woman who slept her way to the top,” she said. "It’s nothing. And I took accountability," she added. She was of the view that her personal life should never go to the media.
Current experiences involving divorce proceedings and claims of being 'unemployable' thanks to her status as a viral sensation, Kristin hopes that in telling her own story, people will remember that one wrong is not indicative of one's worth. "This can’t be the final word," Kristin urged, trying to move past the turning point in her life.
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