Did Astronomer CEO Andy Byron release a statement in which he lamented how "a private moment became public" without his consent? No, that's not true: A widely-shared screenshot showed a fake statement first published by a parody account on X. Byron, who is married, was the subject of news coverage in July 2025 after he appeared to have been shown in an embrace with a co-worker at a Coldplay concert.
The statement appeared in a July 17, 2025, post on Facebook (archived here). The full text read:
Statement from CEO Andy Byron
New York, New York -- July 17, 2025 -- "I want to acknowledge the moment that's been circulating online, and the disappointment it's caused.
What was supposed to be a night of music and joy turned into a deeply personal mistake playing out on a very public stage. I want to sincerely apologize to my wife, my family, and the team at Astronomer. You deserve better from me as a partner, as a father, and as a leader.
This is not who I want to be or how I want to represent the company I helped build. I'm taking time to reflect, to take accountability, and to figure out the next steps, personally and professionaly. I ask for privacy as I navigate that process.
I also want to express how troubling it is that what should have been a private moment became public without my consent. I respect artists and entertainers, but I hope we can all think more deeply about the impact of turning someone life into a spectacle.fi
As a friend once sang: 'Lights will guide you home, and ignite your bones, and I will try to fix you.'"
-Andy
This is what it looked like at the time of writing:
(Image source: Screenshot of post by facebook.com/DaveBondy25)
Astronomer CEO Andy Byron became the subject of gossip and news coverage in July 2025 when, according to reports (archived here), he was seen embracing a co-worker who was not his wife, at a Coldplay concert in Boston.
However, the widely-shared statement was a fake.
It was first posted on July 17, 2025, by @PeterEnisCBS on X, a parody account that was subsequently suspended:
(Image source: Screenshot of archive.is capture of a post by x.com/PeterEnisCBS)
As of July 18, Byron has not made a public statement on the episode. He does not appear to have an account under his name on Facebook, X or Instagram, and his LinkedIn profile had been deleted.
His company, Astronomer, had also not issued a public statement that could be found on their website, or on their accounts on X, LinkedIn or YouTube (archived here, here and here).
