Ryan Reynolds reveals how he turned Astronomer CEO scandal into a win

Ryan Reynolds has opened up about the strategy that led to Gwyneth Paltrow fronting a playful PSA for Astronomer CEO at the height of the company’s summer scandal.

Speaking during a Q&A at the Wall Street Journal’s CMO Council Summit, the Deadpool actor explained how his creative agency Maximum Effort changed the game in just hours after Astronomer’s former CEO, Andy Byron, went viral for being caught on a kiss cam with HR executive Kristin Cabot at a Coldplay concert.

The moment Chris Martin joked about a possible affair from the stage, which had gotten the crowd hyped, swiftly became national news and left the company facing widespread scrutiny. Reynolds said he immediately saw an opportunity to shift the narrative.

"Just 14 hours later, I'm paying for that, (and I didn't) have their blessing yet, but I (knew) that nobody at that time ... knew what Astronomer does. So I was like, 'What if Gwyneth explained it?'" 

Unsure whether the company had fully signed off, he moved forward with the idea of having Iron Man 3 actress , whose ex-husband fronts Coldplay, explain what Astronomer actually does, noting that few people knew the brand beyond the controversy.

"It turns out, Astronomer's an amazing company," the 49-year-old actor continued. "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." 

Byron and Cabot later stepped down from their roles, and Astronomer publicly reaffirmed its commitment to accountability.