Does Viral Photo Show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s Wife? No, It’s A Meme

Claim

Photo claiming to show Astronomer CEO Andy Byron’s wife. 

The archived version of the post can be seen here, which has clocked 60.4 million views so far.

Byron was recently caught on camera sharing an intimate moment with a female co-worker at Coldplay’s concert in Boston in a moment that had made international headlines.

Fact

Newschecker first ran a keyword search for “Astronomer CEO wife,” which led us to multiple reports, seen here, here, here and here, on Megan Kerrigan, the wife of Astronomer CEO Andy Byron, who has reportedly dropped Byron’s surname from her Facebook profile following the controversy.

Screengrab from New York Post article.

Multiple photos of Kerrigan across the reports clearly show that it is not the same woman in the viral photo.

We then ran a reverse image search, which led us to this write-up posted on Know Your Meme.

“Mom How Did We Get So Rich? is a series of memes using an image of influencer Elina Salyakhova eating with her children, all of whom are dressed in nice clothes, the image giving off a perceived air of wealth. The image was posted online in late 2021 and began inspiring memes as early as April 2024 on sites including TikTok, Reddit and X. The memes use a phrasal template that begins with, “Mom, how did we get so rich?” followed by a quote attributed to Salyakhova joking or making a statement about how they earned their wealth…” read the write-up, directing us to her Instagram page. We saw that Salyakhova first posted the photo on December 31, 2021.

A similar Instagram post, dated November 26, 2023, sharing the same photo and tagging Elina Salyakhova, further confirmed that the viral photo is being shared with a false claim.

Also Read: Coldplay Kiss Cam Controversy: Viral ‘Apology Letter’ By Astronomer CEO Blaming Band Is Fake

Source
Know Your Meme write-up
Instagram post, Elina Salyakhova, December 31, 2021