Ryan Reynolds taps Gwyneth Paltrow to spin Astronomer's kiss cam crisis into a viral ad
Ryan Reynolds was reportedly a key player in securing Gwyneth Paltrow for the Astronomer advertisement that emerged after the Coldplay-related incident.
Reynolds's company, Maximum Effort, co-produced the promotional piece, which launched just days following the July Kiss Cam controversy where Astronomer's married CEO, Andy Byron, was filmed with a coworker at a Coldplay concert.
"Just 14 hours later, I'm footing the bill for that," Reynolds remarked, speaking about Paltrow's public service announcement at the Wall Street Journal's CMO Council Summit on Tuesday, November 18.
Regarding the playful ad featuring Coldplay frontman Chris Martin's ex-wife, Reynolds added: "[I hadn't] received their approval yet, but I [understood] that at that moment… no one really knew what Astronomer did. So I thought, 'What if Gwyneth explained it?'"
How Ryan Reynolds Contributed to Gwyneth Paltrow’s Viral Astronomer Commercial
In the video, shared on Astronomer’s official X page with the caption, “Thank you for your interest in Astronomer,” 53-year-old Paltrow appeared as the company’s “Temporary Spokesperson.” She was present to clarify the company's function, while subtly referencing the widely discussed moment involving 51-year-old Byron and Astronomer’s Chief People Officer, Kristin Cabot.
“I’ve been brought on for a very brief period to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” Paltrow stated, before noting the company had received “a lot of inquiries” recently.
“OMG! What the actual f?,” flashed on screen, prompting Paltrow to skillfully evade the question, instead elaborating on “airflow, running data ML and AI pipelines at scale.”
When “How is your social media team holding [up] …” appeared as another query, the actress once again redirected to the company’s “transformative results.”
“It turns out, Astronomer is a fantastic company,” Reynolds emphasized on Tuesday. “They genuinely achieve some incredible things.”
“But it presented a real opportunity for them to shift the narrative from where it was, which I considered quite toxic, and instead focus on something meaningful in a way that was fun, straightforward, emotional, and delightful,” Reynolds concluded.
Astronomer Co-founder Addresses Coldplay Kiss Cam Controversy
During Coldplay’s performance at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Massachusetts, on July 16, the band utilized a Kiss Cam to display couples in the audience on the jumbo screen — but Byron seemed far from pleased when he was captured with his arms around 53-year-old coworker Cabot, rather than his wife, Megan Kerrigan Byron, who was absent.
“Whoa, look at these two. Alright, come on. You’re OK,” 48-year-old Martin said. “They’re either having an affair or they’re just very shy. I’m not entirely sure what to do.”
He further added, “Holy s. I hope we didn’t cause any trouble.”
Both Byron and Cabot resigned from their positions at Astronomer following the scandal, and Cabot, who was separated from her husband Andrew at the time, subsequently initiated divorce proceedings.
Byron has not publicly commented on the events, but he has been seen with his wife multiple times recently. Both were photographed wearing their wedding rings in images obtained by the Daily Mail.
For their part, Paltrow and Martin were wed from 2003 to 2014 and share two children, Apple, 21, and Moses, 19. They pioneered a new approach to celebrity splits when they announced their separation in a post on Goop’s website titled “Conscious Uncoupling.”
