Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin is giving concertgoers plenty of notice that they may appear on their video screens during the Jumbotron Song at their latest shows.
“We’d like to say hello to some of you in the crowd,” Martin said on stage at Camp Randall Stadium in Madison, Wisconsin, according to video footage posted on social media.
“How we’re going to do that is we’re going to use our cameras and put some of you on the big screen.”
Martin, still strumming his acoustic guitar, went on to joke, “So, please, if you haven’t done your makeup, do your makeup now.”
Andy Byron, the man captured in the video, has since resigned from his job as CEO of Cincinnati-based Astronomer, according to a statement posted on LinkedIn and X by the company on Sunday (US time).
“Astronomer is committed to the values and culture that have guided us since our founding. Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said in its post on LinkedIn.
The move comes a day after the company said that Byron had been put on leave and its board of directors had launched a formal investigation into the jumbotron incident, which has since gone viral.
A company spokesman later confirmed Byron and Astronomer chief people officer Kristin Cabot were the pair in the video.
At the concert, Martin asked the cameras to scan the crowd for his Jumbotron Song, when he sings a few lines about the people the camera lands on.
“Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy,” he joked of the pair.
Internet sleuths quickly identified the pair.
Most concert venues warn attendees that they can be filmed and it’s common practice, especially when bands like to use performances for music videos or concert films.
Once captured, a moment can be shared widely.
“They probably would have got away with it if they hadn’t reacted,” said Alison Taylor, a clinical associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business.
By the time the alleged identities emerged on social media, it hit a classic nerve around “leaders acting like the rules don’t apply to them”, she said.
-with AAP
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