In an unexpected twist in the ongoing saga stemming from *that* Coldplay kiss cam moment, Gwyneth Paltrow has made an appearance in a video shared by Astronomer, the tech company where both Andy Byron and Kristen Cabot were previously employed.

ICYMI, Byron and Cabot — who held the positions of CEO and CPO at Astronomer, respectively — recently announced their resignations following their affair being caught on the Jumbotron at a Coldplay concert in Massachusetts earlier this month.

While their resignations might have seemed to close the chapter on this never-ending saga, Paltrow — the ex-wife of Coldplay frontman Chris Martin — has now joined the conversation, proving that this story keeps evolving.

Paltrow's involvement appears to be a clever marketing strategy by Astronomer, who engaged her as a “Temporary Spokesperson” to address the scandal “on behalf of the 300 plus employees at Astronomer”, as she explained in the clip.

The video was posted on the company’s official LinkedIn page, and in a playful twist, it features Paltrow promoting Astronomer’s products and business events instead of addressing the pressing questions that pop up on the screen.

“Q: OMG! What the actual f — ,” the text starts, cutting off just as Paltrow reappears on screen. 

“Yes! Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow,” she replies, sidestepping the question and sarcastically noting her excitement about “so many people suddenly interested in data workflow automation”.

This move by Astronomer is quite astute, particularly because, amidst the PR storm, there has been little focus on the company’s actual activities. 

That Paltrow, loosely linked to the scandal through Martin, can appear with a knowing grin and utter “workflow automation” is the icing on this chaotic cake.

The second question begins with “how is your social media team holding — ”, but again gets interrupted as Paltrow nonchalantly mentions Astronomer’s “Beyond Analytics event this September”.

I have no clue what “Apache Airflow” entails, but I’m now tempted to secure tickets to this virtual event.

Towards the end of the video, Paltrow, speaking for Astronomer, stated that “we will now be returning to what we do best: delivering game-changing results for our customers”.

“Thank you for your interest in Astronomer,” she concluded.

Not surprisingly, since this may be the most action LinkedIn has ever witnessed, the reactions were both plentiful and fervent, with thousands of likes and hundreds of comments.

That is remarkably viral by LinkedIn’s standards.

Paltrow entering the mix is the latest chapter in a story that will undoubtedly be snapped up by Ryan Murphy for a Netflix telemovie.

Earlier this week, Astronomer’s interim CEO Pete DeJoy issued a statement describing the situation as “unusual and surreal,” and prior to that, a new angle of the Coldplay concert revealed Martin appearing to regret his decision to project Byron and Cabot on the big screen.

In other developments, Byron’s wife Megan—with whom he shares two children—was seen dropping the surname from her Facebook page, and internet sleuths confirmed that the third person shown on the Jumbotron was misidentified.

With Paltrow’s latest involvement, perhaps this entire ordeal might finally simmer down… or at least until Sarah Paulson earns an Emmy for her portrayal of Cabot.

Lead images: LinkedIn and TikTok