Lionel Messi made a surprise appearance at Coldplay’s final US tour stop and found himself in the crosshairs of the now-infamous Kiss Cam.
But unlike that other notorious recent couple, there was no dodging, ducking, or scandal here. Just pure, wholesome vibes with his wife, Antonela Roccuzzo, and their three kids.
The family attended the band’s "Music of the Spheres" show at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, where Messi’s cameo on the jumbotron sent the crowd - and even Chris Martin - into a frenzy.
"Well Leo, my beautiful brother," Martin serenaded mid-show. "You and your wife are looking so fine. Thanks for coming today to see our band play, the number one sports person of all time!"
The moment couldn’t have been more different from the now-viral Coldplay kiss cam incident involving Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his company’s Head of HR, Kristin Cabot.
When the pair appeared on the big screen at one of the band's concerts earlier this month, Byron quickly ducked out of frame while Cabot awkwardly covered her face. The video - filmed by a fellow concertgoer - instantly went viral, sparking a whole lot of speculation, memes, and internet sleuthing.
Byron, who had been CEO since 2023 of the $1.3 billion data analytics firm, was quickly replaced by co-founder Pete DeJoy, who’s now acting as interim CEO. Cabot, who joined just nine months ago as Chief People Officer, has gone radio silent.
And in a surprising twist, Astronomer leaned into the viral chaos with a cheeky video response, featuring none other than Gwyneth Paltrow - the Oscar winner, Goop founder, and ex-wife of Coldplay’s own Chris Martin.
Paltrow can be seen in the one-minute Astronomer video, thanking the public for their interest in the company – which up until recently was largely unknown to the general public. “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” she says in the clip. “Astronomer has gotten a lot of questions over the last few days – and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
A question is then typed out on the screen that reads: “OMG, what the actual…”
Before the final word - an unmistakable four-letter expletive - can be spelled out, the video cuts back to Paltrow promoting Astronomer’s core services. “We’ve been thrilled so many people have a newfound interest in data workflow automation.”
We described it as a canny move from Astronomer, which has clearly understood that the viral “Coldplaygate” needn’t be a source of (total) ridicule and that the now-pop culture phenomenon could be spun to their advantage.
In other Messi news, an AI portrait created by renowned Turkish-American digital artist Refik Anadol and based on the footballer's favourite personal goal recently sold for a $1.87 million (€16.2m) at a Christie’s auction.
The goal in question? His iconic 2009 Champions League looping header against Manchester United that sealed the match (and Barcelona’s first treble).
Proceeds from the sale went towards education programs across five Latin American and Caribbean countries, supported by the Inter Miami CF Foundation.
