We need to talk about media literacy after an AI-generated image convinced people that The Simpsons predicted the Coldplay affair.

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The viral image depicted characters in Simpsons style that looked a lot like Astronomer executives Andy Byron and Kristin Cabot, the pair caught cheating on their spouses at a recent Coldplay concert. But it’s not real.

The Simpsons is notorious for predicting world events, but this wasn’t one of them. The number of people who took the image at face value once again sparked fears about AI-related misinformation.

The Simpsons did not predict the “Coldplay Couple”

If you missed it, the awkward moment in which the tech executives were caught cuddling with the wrong person inspired memes across the internet last week. Some of these memes featured characters from The Simpsons, but things escalated over the weekend.

As early as July 18, people started spreading the AI image of the so-called “Coldplay Couple,” claiming that The Simpsons predicted the embarrassing incident.

“So what’s up with The Simpsons always getting these things right?” asked X user @Smitty68WF2.

“Is there anything the Simpsons don’t know!!” wrote @BarneySimon on July 19th.

One video post by @MelissaRedpill got a Community Notes disclaimer explaining that the image is fake.

“Photo used as evidence that The Simpsons predicted the Cold Play Kiss Cam incident is AI,” the note explains. “One episode did feature a kiss cam but didn’t depict circumstance consistent with the recent incident.”

Adding to the confusion, another episode from 2009 did feature Coldplay, but only to joke that nobody goes to their concerts anymore.

Throwback: A icônica aparição do Coldplay no episódio do The Simpsons, em 2009!

Temporada 21, episódio 11. pic.twitter.com/1oIttPvgl1

— Coldplay Access (@coldplayaccess) July 29, 2023

Why are so many people falling for the fake image?

It’s time we started incorporating AI detection in our conversations about media literacy.

While there may not be any clear visual tells in the Simpsons Coldplay Couple image, the intense similarities between this and the real thing should have been a red flag. The fact that so many people fell for it is concerning, to say the least.

At least some X users thought to question it, including @RebelsPart2.

“I don’t own the series on disc, or have Disney+,” they wrote. “Can someone confirm this? Did the Simpsons really do the Coldplay affair?”

User @Mansanpk2009 correctly commented that it was “probably AI-generated this connection with Simpson [sic]. AI is Satanic now.”

Two days later, @outfotime gained over 17 million views with a post showing a screenshot of a video of someone who fell for it, asking, “How can you be this dumb.”

Some of the blame probably has to do with certain age groups who don’t understand new tech as well as others.

“MY DAD FELL FOR THIS AND HE USES A TIKTOK LIKE APP IM SOBBING,” reported @sinkiterkriter.

Of course, media literacy also includes spotting rage bait. User @umgasimzade__ pointed out that the real fools are those who think that the TikToker in question was fooled.

“They aren’t dumb, they know exactly what they’re doing, so actual dumb people can give them engagement, whether they agree with them or not,” they said.

The internet was once a simple place.

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Coldplay’s seemingly innocent use of a concert kiss cam on their Music of the Spheres World Tour inadvertently became one of the most viral moments of 2025.

At the band’s July 2025 show at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, married Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was caught on the jumbotron with his arms wrapped around his company’s chief people office, Kristin Cabot. After Coldplay singer Chris Martin wondered on stage whether he’d just caught the pair having “an affair,” footage of the incident went viral and it wasn’t long before the two Astronomer employees were identified by internet sleuths.

Byron was initially put on leave from Astronomer within hours of the footage going viral, before it was announced days later that he’d resigned from the company entirely. Other major artists on tour — including Morgan Wallen, American Idol judge Luke Bryan and Nickelback — poked fun at the kiss cam scandal at their own shows over the next few days.

“Anybody in here with their sidechick or whatever, I think you’re safe here,” Wallen joked on stage on July 18.

Related: Looking Back at Viral Jumbotron Moments Amid Andy Byron’s Kiss Cam Scandal

Thanks to social media, what happens on the Jumbotron doesn’t always stay in the arena or stadium. The big screens have long been a mainstay at concerts and sporting events, often used to highlight couples in the crowd for “kiss cam” segments or to showcase other fan moments. And sometimes, they stir the pot. Astronomer […]

Keep scrolling for a look back at some of many of the musicians who made light of the kiss cam scandal:

Morgan Wallen

The country music superstar — who is no stranger to controversy on his own — mocked Byron and Cabot’s predicament during his July 18 show at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Arizona.

After assuring anyone with a “sidechick” that they were “safe” at his show, Wallen clarified: “I don’t condone cheating … anymore!”

Nickelback

The “Photograph” band’s frontman Chad Kroeger took time out of their headlining set at the Summer of ’99 and Beyond Festival at the Alpine Valley Music Theatre in Troy, Wisconsin, to offer some useful advice to any mischievous concert-goers.

“Just duck,” he encouraged anyone fearful of his go-pro camera.

Big Sean

At Mansfield, Massachusetts’s Xfinity Center, the “Bounce Back” rapper offered his own practical advice for anyone who could potentially get caught in a compromising position by his kiss cam.

“You don’t want to end up like the mother-f***ers at the Coldplay concert,” he warned. “I hope none of y’all out here are f***ing up right now. Do what you wanna do but have some respect!”

Russell Dickerson

Dickerson had fans in Doswell, Virginia, howling with laughter when he put his hit “Yours” in brand new light.

“If anybody has walked down the aisle to this song, [or] if any CEOs have been to a concert, cheating with HR to this song,” he teased.

Dickerson even proposed changing one key lyric — “I came to life when I first kissed you” — to “I came to life when I first kissed-cam’d you.”

Luke Bryan

The American Idol judge was midway through his set at the Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, South Carolina, when he warned attendees that it was time for the kiss cam.

“We’re gonna shine our cameras on anybody,” Bryan quipped. “Who’s here with their secretary tonight? Hey, it’s gotta be someone way up there.”

Related: Who Is Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s Wife? Meet Megan Kerrigan Byron

When Coldplay switched on its Kiss Cam earlier this week, the band unintentionally opened up a whole can of worms. The Jumbotron captured footage of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron with his arms wrapped around coworker Kristin Cabot. As soon as they realized they were being blasted across the screens, they attempted to evade the cameras. […]

Bryan went on, “Don’t get caught tonight! Do not get caught tonight.”

Jason Aldean

Aldean used the Coldplay controversy to promote his own 2025 summer tour. Writing via Instagram, he urged his fans to “bring your girl to the Aldean show before her CEO does.”

• Astronomer CEO Andy Byron and his chief people officer, Kristin Cabot are being investigated by their board after after a video of them snuggled up took the internet by storm.

Astronomer, the tech company at the center of a viral internet controversy in which the married CEO embraced his chief people officer at a Coldplay concert where it was featured on a jumbotron, announced it launched a formal investigation. The Astronomer board is digging into the conduct of CEO Andy Byron and chief people officer Kristin Cabot and will reveal additional details soon, the company posted in a statement on LinkedIn and X.