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In a delightful turn of events, Ryan Reynolds revealed the backstory of how he enlisted Gwyneth Paltrow for a comedic public service announcement by Astronomer, following a viral moment involving the company’s CEO. The amusing narrative unfolded after a Coldplay concert in Boston, where Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was humorously spotlighted on the kiss cam with Kristin Cabot, a colleague, igniting playful speculation.
The plot thickened when Coldplay’s lead singer, Chris Martin—who happens to be Paltrow’s former spouse—lightheartedly suggested that the duo could be embroiled in an “affair,” prompting them to swiftly exit the camera’s frame. This cheeky moment set the stage for Reynolds’ creative input.
Through his company, Maximum Effort, Reynolds decided to craft a tongue-in-cheek advertisement featuring Paltrow. The ad was released shortly after the kiss cam incident, capitalizing on the buzz it generated. During a panel at the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council Summit, Reynolds shared, “Just 14 hours later, I’m footing the bill for that, without having their blessing yet, but recognizing that at that time, nobody really knew what Astronomer does,” as reported by People.
Reynolds, ever the quick thinker, proposed, “What if Gwyneth explained it?” His creative gamble paid off, leveraging Paltrow’s star power and the viral moment to both entertain and inform the public about the company. At 49, Reynolds continues to demonstrate his knack for turning unexpected situations into marketing gold.
“So I was like, ‘What if Gwyneth explained it?’” Reynolds, 49, said.
“It turns out, Astronomer’s an amazing company,” he continued of the embattled company. “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,” the “Free Guy” actor explained.
Byron and Cabot, who worked as the company’s HR chief, both ultimately resigned from their respective positions following the viral sighting.
Following the July 16 scandal, Paltrow emerged in the company’s PSA on July 25, hilariously avoiding the topic and explaining what the company actually does.
“I’ve been hired on a very temporary basis to speak on behalf of the 300-plus employees at Astronomer,” the Oscar winner began in the clip.
The actress, sitting at a formal desk, explained that the company had received “a lot of questions in the last few days, and they wanted me to answer the most common ones.”
As the Goop founder, 53, continued, a screen appeared with text reading, “Q: OMG! What the actual f—”
The actress reappeared and responded, “Yes! Astronomer is the best place to run Apache Airflow!”
“Q: How is your social media team holding—” another question began, as the “Shakespeare in Love” actress reappeared.
“Yes!” she exclaimed. “There is still space available at our Beyond Analytics event this September!”
“And now, we’ll return to doing what we do best… delivering game-changing results for our customers,” she concluded, adding, “Thank you for your interest in Astronomer.”
Paltrow was married to Martin, who inadvertently became the center of the Astronomer scandal, from 2003 to 2014.
The former power couple share two grown children, daughter Apple, 21, and son Moses, 19.