Gwyneth Paltrow has appeared in a hilarious cameo speaking on behalf of Astronomer, with the company caught in a PR disaster after its CEO and his alleged mistress was busted cosying up at a Coldplay concert.
Astronomer chief Andy Byron had his arms wrapped around the chest of fellow colleague Kristin Cabot at the British band’s tour in Boston, Massachusetts on July 16.Â
The alleged tryst was filmed by Coldplay fan Grace Springer and shared to TikTok where it has been seen close to 70 million times, with many news stories already written.
Chris Martin, who is Paltrow’s ex-husband and father to her two children, joked to the crowd that the couple were “either having an affair or just very shy” as thousands of other concert-goers laughed and cheered.
On Saturday, Astronomer published a video to their LinkedIn page in which Paltrow appeared as a ”temporary spokesperson” to answer some questions, marking a surprise PR move by the company as it continues to become entangled in a media storm.
The actress, wearing a blue shirt, started her cameo by saying: ”Thank you for your interest in Astronomer. Hi, I’m Gwyneth Paltrow,” as corporate music blissfully played in the background.
”I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300 plus employees at Astronomer.
”Astronomer has got a lot of questions in the last few days, and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
The first question which appeared on the screen read: ”Q: OMG! What the actual f**k” the text begins, before it abruptly cuts off with Paltrow reappearing.
Paltrow then replies: ”Yes! Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow.”
”We’ve been thrilled to see so many people suddenly interested in data workflow automation,” she continues applying light sarcasm.
”As for the other questions we’ve received…”
A second question then appears on the screen: ”How is your social media team holding..”
Paltrow responds: ”Yes! There is still space available at our Beyond Analytics event this September!
”And now, we’ll return to doing what we do best… delivering game-changing results for our customers. Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.”
The post has garnered the attention of hundreds of LinkedIn users who headed to the comments to share their support and applaud the ”boss move” by Astronomer’s media team.
”Absolutely brilliant, Leo Zheng and team – just brilliant,” one LinkedIn user commented.
”Phenomenal work, Leo Zheng,” wrote another.
”Leo Zheng: mic drop,” a third wrote.
”A clever way to reach your audience – unexpected, but memorable,” a user critiqued the video. ”Though, to be honest, the question and answer felt like they were on entirely different airflows.”
The company previously said on LinkedIn that Mr Byron is under formal investigation over his alleged cheating scandal involving Astronomer’s chief human resources officer.
“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,” it said.
“The Board of Directors has initiated a formal investigation into this matter and we will have additional details to share very shortly.”
Both Byron and Cabot have quit their jobs at the tech company following the scandal.