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Ryan Reynolds recalled the thought process that went into getting Gwyneth Paltrow to film a PSA tied to the drama surrounding Astronomer earlier this summer.
During a Q&A at the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council Summit, the actor, 49, spoke about filming an ad for the company, shortly after it made national headlines due to its former CEO, Andy Byron, being caught with his arms around former company HR executive Kristin Cabot on a kiss cam at a Coldplay concert.
Detailing that his company, Maximum Effort, became involved and eventually helped produce the promotional spot, Reynolds said, “Just 14 hours later, I’m paying for that, [and I didn’t] have their blessing yet, but I [knew] that nobody at that time … knew what Astronomer does. So I was like, ‘What if Gwyneth explained it?’ ” (Paltrow’s ex-husband, Chris Martin, played a key role in the viral moment.)
“It turns out, Astronomer’s an amazing company,” the father of four continued. “They really do some amazing stuff.”
“But it was a real opportunity for them to take the conversation away from where it was, which was quite toxic, I think, and really focus on something that mattered in a way that was fun and easy and emotional and lovely,” Reynolds added.
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Byron, 51, was seen with Cabot, 53, at the concert in Massachusetts in July, when the two had been working together at Astronomer. During the now-viral moment, the pair tried to hide from view, prompting Coldplay’s Martin, 48, to joke from the stage that they might be having an “affair.”
Both Bryron and Cabot eventually stepped down from Astronomer. “Our leaders are expected to set the standard in both conduct and accountability, and recently, that standard was not met,” the company said after Byron’s resignation.
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Cabot, who was already separated and living apart from her husband, Andrew, susequently filed for divorce. A source close to her later insisted to PEOPLE that she and Byron were not romantically involved and that the spotlight on them and their families had been “devastating.”
Byron, meanwhile — who has not publicly commented on what happened or responded to requests for comment from PEOPLE — was seen with his wife, Megan, several times in Maine last month, according to photos published by The Daily Mail. Both wore their wedding rings, and neither appears to have filed for divorce, according to a review of court filings by PEOPLE.
Sean T. Smith for WSJ
Paltrow’s PSA for Astronomer amid the drama was shared on the company’s social media accounts with the caption, “Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.”
In it, the Marty Supreme star said, “I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” before she explained that the company had received “a lot of questions” since the scandal went viral.
Stating that she would be answering the most common questions Astronomer had received — with the first being: “OMG! What the actual f—?” — Paltrow dodged the inquiry, however.
When the next question to Astronomer was, “How is your social media team holding …” the star again pivoted, before the full question could appear on-screen.
Paltrow then concluded, “We will now be returning to what we do best, which is delivering game-changing results for our customers. Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.”
