From Kiss Cam to Crisis: What Leaders and Communicators Should Understand

From Kiss Cam to Crisis: What Leaders and Communicators Should Understand

Most people saw the video: A tech CEO caught on the kiss cam at a Coldplay concert, in an intimate moment with his HR chief. She’s not his wife. And that’s where this turned from an awkward viral clip into a full-blown crisis.

While the internet had a field day with it, those of us in communications saw a predictable pattern unfold. The silence, the speculation, the fake statement that beat the real one to the punch. And perhaps most telling of all, the moment when the company and the CEO appeared to split into two separate camps.

From the start, it looked like they were stalling. The lack of any comment from the CEO or the organization suggested that leadership was weighing their options, possibly even considering whether he could stay. But once the formal statement was issued, not by him, it became clear. They were moving on without him.

If we had heard from the CEO first, that would have signaled the company’s support for him. But the timing and source of the eventual response said something very different. His absence spoke volumes. So did the organization’s shift in tone.

When it comes to high-profile missteps, leadership’s actions reveal more than any mission statement ever could. Values are not what you write in a handbook. They’re what you demonstrate in the tough moments.

This situation also highlighted a familiar glitch in executive crisis response. The real people affected often go unseen. In this case, there is a wife and family. There are colleagues and employees. There’s also a female professional whose reputation and career may never recover. And the power imbalance in that relationship matters. These are the details that a thoughtful response would acknowledge.

Instead, we got a sterile, corporate message that sounds more like risk management than leadership. It was carefully worded, but not especially human. It might check a box on a crisis checklist, but it doesn’t rebuild trust.

Had the CEO taken early responsibility, the public and the internal audience might have been more willing to hear him out. But his silence left the company to control of the message. And in doing so, they made their decision clear.

5 reminders for any executive or communications team:
1. Silence creates a void that others will fill for you.
2. A fake statement can go viral faster than a real one if it’s first and shape the narrative.
3. Conflicting or delayed messaging between a CEO and the company causes confusion and distrust.
4. The organization’s values are judged by its response, not by its claims.
5. Executive misconduct, however rare, should be part of your crisis planning.

If your senior team hasn’t rehearsed for the uncomfortable scenarios, now is the time. Moments like this don’t just test messaging. They test leadership.

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