Featured Image Credit: instaagraace / TikTok
What do Titanic, The Graduate, Spider-Man, and The Notebook all have in common with a Coldplay concert? All of them are remembered for their iconic canoodling, although one is arguably more controversial than the rest.
In a year that was dominated by Katy Petty going to space, endless Jet2 parodies, and the Labubu craze, the Coldplay CEO kiss cam scandal stuck around in the news for far longer than it realistically should've.
The infamous kiss took place on July 16, when Coldplay frontman Chris Martin inadvertently exposed a kiss between Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and Chief People Officer (CPO) Kristin Cabot.
When the video went viral on TikTok, the pair were quickly tracked down, and a media sh*tstorm ensued.
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This included apologies from fake Byrons, the CEO soon stepping down, and even Martin's ex, Gwyneth Paltrow, making fun of the situation as Astronomer seemed to enjoy its newfound fame.
While Byron has gone to ground and is yet to speak out, Cabot eventually tried to tell her side of the story in a tell-all confessional from December 2025.
Speaking to The New York Times, she referred to an alcohol-fueled mistake and explained: "I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. Thatâs the price I chose to pay."
It seems Cabot is staging something of a comeback, with an upcoming appearance at PRWeekâs 2026 Crisis Comms Conference.
An oddly apocalyptic poster features Cabot as a headliner alongside Dini von Mueffling of Dini von Mueffling Communications. The pair are due to discuss crisis PR, but away from some critics calling out Cabot as she returns to the spotlight, it's the ticket price that has others raising their eyebrows.
The official description outlines Cabot's backstory and what happened at that Coldplay concert, adding: "During this session, the former Astronomer chief people officer and her PR representative, industry legend Dini von Mueffling, share the strategy â both immediate and long-term â that has helped Cabot take control of her narrative and rewrite her story."
2026's Crisis Comms Conference hypes its importance in today's society, especially as "tech advances such as AI add an entirely new, yet huge, element to the conversation."
Highlighting the likes of the recent Amazon Web Services crash, PRWeek says: "Old playbooks simply wonât cut it any longer. You need a new approach. Thatâs where the 2026 PRWeek Crisis Comms Conference comes in."
That's all well and good for those companies worried their CEO is about to get caught in their own scandal, but with individual tickets costing $875, many are guffawing at the cost.
While there's a message about Cabot taking back the narrative, many of the comments turned against her as one person wrote: "Seems like 'the narrative' is that she signed with a talent agency."
Another added: "Assuming she's not been able to get another job but now she's just solidifying her brand as the "Coldplay concert HR lady lol
A third concluded: "I find it bizarre that any PR firm is branding themselves as 'Crisis Comms'. Any client that hires them is admitting 'we have a crisis on our hands'."
Others defended Cabot, with someone else reiterating: "Really telling that no one understands that she is the keynote speaker at this industry conference. $875 is to buy access to the conference⌠Iâm sure sheâs getting paid, but itâs not HER show."
