Paltrow’s appearance in the ad comes after the company’s CEO and chief people officer — who were allegedly having an affair — were caught on the kiss cam at Paltrow’s ex-husband’s band, Coldplay’s concert, earlier this month.
Gwyneth Paltrow is leaning into the drama.
In a surprise video shared across social media Friday night, the Oscar-winning actress teamed up with data automation company , Astronomer, to poke fun at the viral Coldplay kiss-cam moment that led to the resignation of both the company’s CEO and chief people officer.
“I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” Paltrow says in the clip, which the company posted across social media. The parody-style video comes amid intense online scrutiny after Astronomer execs Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot were caught on the kiss-cam during Coldplay’s July 16 show in Boston — quickly ducking out of frame, triggering speculation about their relationship status — and a million memes in the process.
“Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days, and they wanted me to answer the most common ones,” Paltrow continues in the video, as text begins typing the question: “OMG! What the actual f–k.” But instead of addressing the scandal, the clip cuts to Paltrow responding to something entirely unrelated: “Yes, Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow. We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data automation.”
The Goop founder doesn’t stop there, however. Giving a deadpan look to the camera, she continues, “As for the other questions we’ve received…” just as the on-screen text begins to type, “How is your social media team holding…” before she reappears once again to dodge the obvious and answer a random product-related inquiry instead.
“Thank you for your interest in Astronomer,” the company captioned the clip.
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While the company never directly addresses the viral moment in the parody, the timing, coupled with the fact that Paltrow is Coldplay front man Chris Martin‘s ex-wife, makes the casting choice all the more hilarious.
Interest in Astronomer skyrocketed after the Boston concert footage went viral. During the band’s kiss-cam segment, Martin quipped from the stage, “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy,” after Byron and Cabot swiftly exited the frame.
Paltrow’s tongue-in-cheek ad for the company comes after Astronomer’s new CEO, Pete DeJoy, addressed the unprecedented attention the company has received since the now-viral scandal.
“The spotlight has been unusual and surreal for our team and, while I would never have wished for it to happen like this, Astronomer is now a household name,” DeJoy wrote via LinkedIn on Monday, July 21. “At Astronomer we have never shied away from challenges; a near-decade of building this business has tested us time and time again, and each time we’ve emerged stronger. From starting a software company in Cincinnati, Ohio, to keeping the lights on through the collapse of the bank that held all our cash, to scaling from 30 to 300 people during a global pandemic that demanded we do it all without ever being in the same room. And yet, we’re still here.”
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The PR disaster turned unexpected marketing moment didn’t just boost visibility for Astronomer, however, it also led to a major spike in Coldplay’s streaming numbers. According to Billboard, data from Luminate showed the band’s on-demand audio streams jumped 25% on Thursday alone. In the five days leading up to the Boston show, Coldplay racked up 28.7 million streams.
