Outing the canoodling Coldplay couple: the kiss cam playing God

When a roving camera at a concert caught a CEO and his HR manager cheating, Tik Tok and its ilk exploded with glee. In a world watched from every angle, including from moral high horses, we are newly policed

- Charmain Naidoo

That is it about The Affair that so fascinates us? We turn on those who fall from grace — adulterers (from the Latin meaning to corrupt or make impure) - with ghoulish prurience, rubbing our hands with glee.

Nobody with a phone or access to social media will have missed the images of a horrified couple caught canoodling at a Coldplay concert (of all places). A roving “kiss cam” captured them uncoupling from an embrace, a moment that was replayed over and over as a salacious public gobbled up their discomfort.

We have an insatiable appetite for adultery, apparently. The hype around the publicly announced infidelity refused to die down, lasting many news cycles — so much so that Coldplay frontman Chris Martin issued a warning at a subsequent concert: there will be roving cameras, so if you're in the audience, you are likely to be seen on our big screens.

One of the big issues discussed by university professors and legal experts covers the question of our right to privacy — of which we have none in a public place, apparently.

That the man captured in the video resigned was debated. He was the CEO of the company at which the woman was the HR head. Was it necessary for him to leave? Yes, was the general consensus, as company morale had been dented and his respected status sullied. The woman subsequently resigned as well.

The couple were speedily identified on social media and their indiscretion quickly went viral. Jokes, memes, TikTok videos, talk shows, radio stations, TV news and newspaper articles reported the incident - even the globally respected New York Times published several stories.

Though I scoured the news and social media, I could not find a single occasion where morality, the breaking of sacred vows or the hurt, pain and suffering caused to family was mentioned. I have to assume that religious leaders did not weigh in on the “scandal”.