Coldplay kisscam exec says tech giants 'feed off the pain' of victims of viral moments

Kristin Cabot, 53, was thrown into the limelight when she was filmed cuddling her boss Andy Byron at the band's concert in the Gillette Stadium in Boston.

Their intimate embrace was shared on TikTok, garnering more than one billion views and becoming one of the most viral moments of 2025.

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Cabot stepped down from her role as head of human resources at the technology startup Astronomer last July and admitted to the Times at the end of 2025 that she has been struggling to find a job since.

She has now provided her first and only on-camera interview on Oprah Winfrey’s podcast this week.

The mother-of-two from New Hampshire blasted tech firms for "profiting" from her pain.

"I had no concept of this before, but when something goes this viral, how technology companies are benefiting from this,” Cabot said in the interview, which is set to go live on Winfrey’s YouTube channel on Tuesday.

"We don’t know that when we’re forwarding and liking and clicking, we’re putting billions of dollars in their pockets and creating an algorithm that feeds it.

"The more pain someone like me is in, the more money they are going to make. And it fuels it and feeds it. I think there is an accountability there that needs to be looked at."

She also accused Gwyneth Paltrow of "furthering her humiliation".

The ex-wife of the Coldplay frontman featured in an advert for Astronomer in the days after the clip went viral.

“I’m heartbroken at how women are treating other women,” she told Winfrey.

"I’m trying to figure out why we’re eating each other alive? Why do we take such joy in seeing other people suffer? I do believe I got knocked off my course for a reason — how can my experience turn into something positive to keep that conversation alive?"

Section 230 of the 1996 Communications Decency Act grants online platforms broad immunity from liability for content posted by their users, often described as near-total protection.

Many argue it shields websites and apps from lawsuits regarding content posted by users and allows them to control or remove offensive material.

Meta's Instagram and Google's YouTube are involved in a landmark court case in California, in which they have been accused of deliberately building addictive products that harmed the mental and emotional health of a young woman.

The woman, identified in court documents as Kaley, says she began posting videos on YouTube ahed six and was addicted to social media apps by adolescence.

As a result, she claimed to suffer body dysmorphia, anxiety and depression, and had engaged in self-harm.

Meta and Google argue that Kaley and other social media users are responsible for their own wellbeing.

TikTok and Snapchat, also named, settled days before the trial began last month.

The jury is still deliberating and a verdict in Kaley’s favour could set a precedent.

Ms Cabot had previously told the Times that her infamous clip triggered 600 phone calls a day, including death threats, in the following weeks.

She felt she was the victim of a "gendered attack" after being called a “slut”, a “homewrecker” and a “gold digger” in online comments.