Guest of Fox News’ America’s Newsroom Debra Lea shared a blunt reaction to the viral Coldplay concert kiss cam video involving Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and a company HR executive, calling the PDA “worse than cheating” and saying the fallout should affect their employment.

Debra Lea calls out Astronomer CEO

“If you look at this they look like 16-year-olds,” Lea said during a July 18 segment of America’s Newsroom. “Hey, I think cheating is an abomination, okay? This man has a wife, he has children, and they have to watch and see this. Look, I would be devastated if I was his wife. This is not just cheating, this is a 16-year-old love affair. The way they are holding each other, it’s like a high school crush and I think that’s worse than anything.”

The video that sparked the discussion shows Byron and the unnamed HR exec embracing during a Coldplay show in Seattle. The couple was caught on the venue’s kiss cam, and the footage quickly spread on social media, sparking criticism.

Byron is the founder and CEO of Astronomer, a data orchestration company. The startup is known for managing Apache Airflow, a platform used by companies to schedule and monitor workflows. The woman in the video is reportedly Astronomer’s head of HR.

Andy Byron caught ‘cheating’ at Coldplay concert© TikTok

The PDA alone might have raised eyebrows, but the fact that Byron is married with children, and that the woman works directly under him, has added fuel to the backlash.

Viewers of the viral moment pointed to ethical concerns, especially given her role in enforcing workplace rules and company conduct.

“I feel awful for the kids,” Lea said. “There’s all kinds of wreckage here. I mean, when we laugh at this we are kind of laughing at the absurdity of the fact you have a CEO and his HR lead.

“I think it’s actually interesting to think what the company does with this,” she said.

“What does Astronomer have a CEO for? They’re basically hired for having great judgment, to make good calls in tough moments. And the HR person is there to make sure everyone plays by the rules.”

Lea added, “If I’m the board of that company and I’m looking at this moment, I think they have to let her go,” she said.

“And the role she plays — she enforces in the job — I don’t see how they can let her go and not let him go. I think that would be a very bad look for them.”

“The way they’re holding each other, it’s not just about cheating,” Lea said.

“It’s the emotional nature of it. This is worse than cheating — it’s like watching teenagers fall in love in front of everyone, and they’ve left wreckage behind.”

Neither the company nor Byron has made an official public statement regarding the incident.