Coldplay's Chris Martin addresses viral 'kiss cam' moment, calls it a 'debacle'
The band's frontman spoke about the viral jumbotron moment at a recent concert.
Coldplay frontman Chris Martin spoke out this week about the viral jumbotron moment that took place at the band's show last month in Massachusetts.
During Coldplay's Music of the Spheres World Tour stop at Craven Park in Hull, England, on Aug. 18, Martin interacted with fans and read some signs in the crowd, pausing to thank them for attending the show.
"Let me say hello," Martin said, according to HullLive. "The hardcore superfans down on the floor, I see you. Thank you for letting us visit."
He continued, "We are so happy to be here. Many of you have written signs. So, I'll take some time to try and read some signs. Then we'll see what happens."
At one point, Martin spotted someone in the crowd with a sign that read, "Three times in three months."
"You were at that Boston gig. Well, OK, thank you for coming again to that debacle," he said, referencing the band's July 16 concert at Gillette Stadium, where a man and woman were famously caught on a now-viral "kiss cam"-type video, ducking out of the frame after seeing themselves on the jumbotron.
In that viral footage, which was posted on TikTok July 17, a man and woman are seen embracing and looking up at the jumbo screen before realizing they are on camera, quickly disentangling themselves as the woman turns around to hide her face, the man ducking out of the picture entirely. The two were eventually identified by online users as Astronomer CEO Andy Bryon and Astronomer's chief people officer Kristin Cabot, though neither have commented publicly on the matter.
Martin can be heard in that video providing a play-by-play to the audience of the pair's reactions to being spotlighted on the jumbotron. "Oh, look at these two. All right, come on, you're OK. Uh oh, what?" he says as the two hide their faces. "Either they're having an affair, or they're just very shy. I'm not quite sure."
The moment went viral on social media and led Astronomer's board of directors to launch a formal investigation into the incident.
"Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding," the company said in a statement at the time. "Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability."
Byron and Cabot later resigned from the company following the incident.
At the Craven Park concert on Monday, Martin said that the virality of that moment wouldn't stop the band from interacting with fans.
"We've been doing this a long time, and it is only recently that it became a… yeah," he said. "So yeah, life throws you lemons and you've got to make lemonade. So, we are going to keep doing it, because we are going to meet some of you."
According to a separate video shared on TikTok by another Craven Park concertgoer, Martin said the jumbotron portion of band's shows was not a "kiss cam."
"This is not, never will be, and never was a kiss cam!" he said, according to the video. "It's not a kiss cam. It took one couple, and you're branded a kiss cam for the rest of your life. So believe me, this is called a 'jumbotron.'"
He continued, "We've done this for a long, long time, and we pick people out to say hello. And yeah, sometimes they turn out to be an internationally massive scandal, sure. But most of the time, we're just trying to say hello to some f---ing people. That's all."
"Anyway, we send pure love to those people, and I want to wish them so well," he added before telling fans that he was going to proceed with the jumbotron portion of the show, warning those who didn't want to be on international news to "please duck."
