The vice president of Apple has been fired after a video of him on TikTok surfaced, featuring a crude comment about women while he was at a car show. The company confirmed on Thursday that Tony Blevins would be leaving the Silicon Valley office following numerous reports and complaints from hundreds of employees regarding a video uploaded on September 5, in which he jokingly talked about "fondling women with large breasts" for a living.
In the video posted by TikToker Daniel Mack, Blevins, 55, was approached while parking his $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren. When Mack asked the Apple executive what he did for a living, Blevins jokingly replied: "I have a pricey car, I play golf, and I like women with big breasts, but I take weekends and holidays off."
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that some Apple employees reported the video to HR, leading to discussions in recent weeks. It was mentioned that CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams were among those offended by the joke. The video was recorded on August 18 at a car show in Pebble Beach, California.
Blevins appeared to have borrowed his line from the 1981 film Arthur, where the titular character describes his lifestyle in a similar way: "I race cars, play tennis, and like women, but I have weekends, and I'm my own boss." For his part, Blevins, who worked at the tech giant for 22 years, confirmed he was fired over the incident and issued an apology for his actions. He told Bloomberg, "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone I offended with my misguided attempt at humor." He most recently held the position of VP of Procurement at Apple, with an estimated salary between $273,000 and $377,000.
