Kristin Cabot Rehabs Her Image on Oprah
Kristin Cabot puts herself in the news cycle again, appearing on an Oprah podcast to explain her Jumbotron kiss cam scandal.
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Could Kristin Cabot just STFU already?
Is this some kind of exposure therapy? Like the cure for the public mortification of being caught on a Jumbotron getting handsy with your boss is yet MORE public exposure?
Kristin Cabot seems dead set on convincing us all that She’s the Real Victim Here. To the degree that she hired a publicist to rehab her image, got an editorial in the Wall Street Journal, a tell-all in the New York Times, and even has the chutzpah to headline a PRWeek Crisis Comms Conference in April on “Taking Back the Narrative.” (Only $875 per ticket to stick your head in the mindf*ck blender!)
Now she’s on Oprah. Because of course she is. I mean, God love Oprah, but I’m beginning to question her judgment after giving us crackpots like Dr. Oz and Dr. Phil.
SOME PEOPLE SHOULD NOT BE AMPLIFIED, OPRAH.
But hey, Kristin Cabot has a sadz. And that’s clicks. So sure, whatever.
But, but, it’s DIFFERENT this time! Now Kristin reveals, kinda sorta, and just maybe that Andy Byron lied to her!
Coldplay “kiss cam” executive Kristin Cabot shifted blame to her former boss in a new interview — hinting he lied to her about his marriage status and claiming social media “profited” from her pain.
Cabot, 53, believed that philandering Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, 51, was in the process of separating from his wife when they were seen canoodling at the concert during the viral cheating scandal, she said on Oprah Winfrey’s podcast Tuesday.
“He wasn’t the person he represented himself to be, to me — and lying is a non-negotiable for me,” Cabot told Winfrey. “There was a big miss on honesty and integrity.”
Honesty and integrity?
You know what’s a big miss on honesty and integrity? Enforcing workplace ethics on honesty and integrity as the director of Human Resources while exempting yourself to make out with your boss. It’s a bad look. Or as you might say, a “big miss.”
In the “process” of separating? Was “going to” leave? As in, he had NOT separated and had not left? So, it’s okay to lie to his wife, but just not you? Right-o.
‘Silence is acceptance.’
Cabot says she had to speak up for all the people this has happened to. Apparently, Jumbotron victims are legion. For every HR director who has ever publicly had their boss feel up their boobs while enforcing codes of conduct for others, Kristin Cabot feels your pain. She is your voice.
Why are we validating Kristin Cabot’s perspective, Oprah?
And dressing this crap up like women’s empowerment?
If Kristin Cabot had made good on her crush (and we don’t know for certain that she hadn’t before that point) — and conspired in the abuse of Andy Byron’s wife — would she still get feminist points? If the giant Jumbotron of Schadenfreude hadn’t lit upon the couple at that moment to freeze this budding affair in its tracks, would we still be all “You go, girl”?
Of all the people in this messed up world to platform, why this corporate suck-up and her raging entitlement?
Yes, death threats and harassment are unequivocally wrong. But do not conflate those criminal acts with judgement of Cabot and Byron’s behavior. We’re all sick to death of Rules for Thee and None for Me.
Really, this is all Gwyneth’s fault.
I enjoy dunking on Gwyneth Paltrow as much as the next person, but it does seem a tad opportunistic to call out Paltrow as some kind of mean girl. Apparently, Cabot was very hurt that Paltrow and Ryan Reynolds made an ad for Astronomer, the company where Byron and Cabot worked. How dare Gwyneth! How dare Ryan! Who said Astronomer could profit from a video seen over 300 billion times? If anyone is allowed to profit from infamy it should be Kristin Cabot! She’s not going to stand for this!
“I felt like Gwyneth, someone whose company [Goop] is founded on or framed around uplifting women and women’s well-being … she doesn’t need the money.”
“I don’t know why she felt she needed to throw gas on the fire and get involved in all of this,” Cabot said.
She went on to say, “I don’t wanna let Ryan Reynolds off the hook either. He produced the ad, he created it and his wife [Blake Lively] has just gone through something really similar over the last year.” (Cabot was referring to Lively’s legal battle with her former It Ends With Us costar and director, Justin Baldoni, claiming sexual harassment and retaliation, which he has denied.)
Paltrow hasn’t publicly addressed Cabot’s comments. But Winfrey said that she spoke with Paltrow and Paltrow told her she only participated in the Astronomer ad because “she was told that you and Andy Byron had signed off,” which they had not, Cabot said.
Cabot said Paltrow had “communicated that to me as well.”
Winfrey then noted Paltrow had emailed Cabot but Cabot had not responded.
Well, Kristin, if you consented to the publicity, it wouldn’t suit the victim narrative, now would it?
How awkward.
The Astronomer ad Paltrow made doesn’t even mention Cabot. It basically just tells people to back off and let Astronomer get back to its actual business.
I cannot imagine what a raging narcissist Cabot is to make that a personal attack on her. Even if she’s an unwitting OW (which I doubt), she still created the PR crisis by canoodling with Byron in public when she was the head of HR. Astronomer had the right to respond.
Also, admitting she let a man touch her breasts in public the first time he ever touched her isn’t the defense she thinks it is.
Right? It’s not a flex. And again she was the HR director! This seems to get glossed over. They didn’t sh*tcan her because of home wrecker judgement, they sh*tcanned her over her lack of professional ethics, which could blow back as lawsuits. She acts as if Astronomer is being unreasonable.
Oprah had a big miss here. The old rule from our parents still applies here….don’t do anything in public you wouldn’t want on the front page of he newspaper. Or in today’s world, all over the internet. Both of them were the pathetic rules aren”t for me sort. Ugh.
Just another cheater playing the victim card…who here has not seen that play a hundred times? And the woman card, as if Gwyneth should excuse Cabot’s disgusting behavior because of the sisterhood of estrogen supply. Me and my ovaries stand in sisterhood support of the betrayed wife, and also the betrayed husband. And all the low-totem people at the company who were expected to behave according to HR policy while the chiefs cavorted and misbehaved.
I couldn’t bring myself to watch the interview, so possibly there is some “nuance” I missed. But I doubt it.
“All we did was kiss!” and “It was our first time!” are old cheater canards. Either she has a really bad publicist or she isn’t listening to the one she has.
Paltrow thought she had Cabot’s permission, just like Cabot thought she had Byron’s wife’s permission.
See how that works?
LOL. Except Patrow and Ryan emailed her. There were receipts. Funny all the same!
Oh, I didn’t realize Paltrow e-mailed her *before* filming the commercial and Cabot didn’t respond. That is damning!
The lack of shame and humility is appalling. I found the lack of accountability to be deeply distressing, providing my children on one hand an excuse exploited by their father for his behavior and also the dissonance of what was clearly wrong. Then to turn it around and point the finger at the wife, as if she’s in the wrong, is despicable. She will never believe what she did is wrong and is teaching her children it’s ok to be a cheater. My children know exactly what I feel about that behavior–no excuses! There are no degrees of “allowable” cheating–they were BOTH married. End of discussion.
It just demonstrates that these people are devoid of any virtue I value. Cut them dead and move on & try to drown out their miserable voices.
Omg – this just
Reminds me of Monica’s Lewinsky claiming she is a victim of “bullies” and the unfairness of it all! I dont know why she gave this interview but I do like the fact that the consequences got out of control. They didn’t predict that! It’s a little like watching Jerry springer when you feel relief your life isn’t that crazy! But I’m comforted by the fact that these other women who thought they could control the consequences aren’t doing well.
Monica Lewinsky was a 22-year-old intern and Clinton was the President of the United States and married, but OK, slut-shame her.
I very much doubt that was the first time or even the farthest things went.
Plus.. she’s put off by “lying” but had no issues with lying to her own spouse until she got caught.
I enjoyed Business Insider’s Cabot article yesterday, as it was entertaining: “I can’t find a job!”
Why is Oprah promoting her anyway? I’d assume she’d not go along with a cheater’s pity party theatrics.
The problem with monetising your notoriety whilst concurrently polishing a weapons grade turd is that, overall, it’s just not a classy look.
There is an opportunity to make better choices here, but Kristin seems reluctant to take it.
LFTT
Kristin Cabot says in the interview that she and her husband were living separately and in the process of divorcing. He was at the Coldplay concert too, with a date. And Kristin Cabot’s boss Andy had told her that he also was separated from his wife. So is CN assuming that Kristin is lying? If she and her husband had agreed to divorce and were in the process of divorcing and not living together, and Andy was also separating and getting a divorce, I don’t see a problem other than it was inappropriate professionally, which Kristin Cabot says in the interview was being addressed. I agree that, as the NYT article title says, that this is ritual shaming. Watch the interview.
Found the PR bot.
I’m not a bot. Why not address the merits of the argument? Again, watch the interview and decide for yourself.
Everything about the situation was wrong, both professionally and personally. Two people ducked on the Jumbotron for a myriad of reasons – the job, the spouses (not yet exes), and the children. The only thing I might agree with is if Cabot (female) was shamed and Byron (male) wasn’t. My impression is that we won’t know because Cabot is doing all the talking and Byron isn’t sharing his story.
CN understands that one good reason Cabot shouldn’t be shamed is because she’s not that special. If it wasn’t her, it would have been someone else.
She says Andy told her he was separated and I believe her.
I watched the video yesterday (not all of it – it was becoming a waste of time). Two things stuck out.
The endless cuts to the audience, who were nodding in agreement or simpering sympathy. Oh, please.
When Oprah referred to Andy or Andrew, the word ‘husband’ was used every time. Couldn’t use ‘ex’, didn’t use ‘soon-to-be ex’ for either one of them. Being separated is not the same as being divorced. If you have to use the word husband, grow up and wait a few months til you can use the word ‘ex’.
Ugh not this beeyotch again. Attention seeking, gaslighting “convenient” faux feminism. Narcissistic cheater playbook of how she’s the real victim here.
She was lying to Andrew Cabot her own husband, no matter what Andy Byron said or didn’t say. Oprah jumped the shark long ago.
How about we just post links in the comments on any sites featuring this woman, directing folks here?
Once again: Do not do anything in public that you don’t want the entire world to see. Full stop.