After a video of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron embracing a woman during British rock band Coldplay's concert in US' Massachusetts went viral, two statements are now being circulated with a claim that they were issued by Byron in response to the recent controversy.
The first statement: The purported statement dated 17 July began with Byron apologising to his family, wife, and the Astronomer team. However, it also highlighted how "troubling" it was that a private moment became public without consent.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: X (formerly Twitter)/Screenshot)
What about the second statement?: The screenshot, which showed an alleged post from the official X handle of Astronomer, showed Byron apologising to his wife, family, and employees. It further said, " I tried to hide my actions but the truth has finally been revealed".
What's the truth?: There is no available evidence to support the claim that these statements were issued by Byron.
Additionally, Astronomer took to its X handle to clarify that Byron had not put out any statement.
No news reports: Team WebQoof looked for news reports or any information available in the public domain but did not find any evidence to support the viral claim.
We did not find any statement that was issued by Byron following the controversy.
On going the first viral post, we noticed that it carried multiple discrepancies that pointed us towards the possibility of it being fake.
There was a spacing error in the third paragraph and the penultimate paragraph carried a misspelled word "spectacle.fi".
Astronomer clarifies: The official X handle of the company said that the Board of Directors have launched an investigation into the matter and more details about the matter will be shared soon.
It clarified, "Andy Byron has not put out any statement, reports saying otherwise are all incorrect."
In another post, the organisation stated that Byron had tendered his resignation and that Chief Product Officer Pete DeJoy would serve as interim CEO.
Conclusion: Evidently, both the viral statements are fake and were not shared by Byron as claimed by several social media users.
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