Top executive at Apple Tony Blevins is leaving the consumer electronics multinational company after he appeared in a viral TikTok video where he made a crude remark.
In the viral video, Tony Blevins was approached by TikTok and Instagram creator Daniel Mac as part of a series where he goes to people at car shows in Beverly Hills and different places around the world, asking them if they drive an expensive car, and what they do for a living.
The executive was stopped by Mac while parking a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, an out-of-production sports car that fetches hundreds of thousands of dollars.
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When asked what he does for a living, Blevins responded by saying, “I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and major holidays off”. an apparent misguided joke off the 1981 movie “Arthur”
The video went viral and garnered more than 40,000 likes on Instagram and 1.3 million views on TikTok. After the clip was published, some members of Apple’s operations and procurement teams reported it to the human resources department, which forced the company to launch an investigation into it.
The video became a topic of discussion among Apple employees in recent weeks, with some expressing their displeasure about his comments, especially given that other executives, including Cook and Williams, have publicly championed workforce diversity and the empowerment of women.
Following the probe into the TikTok video by Apple after employees reported it to the human resources department, it has prompted the company to remove Tony Blevins as leader of several hundred employees and six direct reports.
Having come to the understanding that his statement was crude, and didn’t sit well will members at the company. Blevins confirmed to Bloomberg, stating that he strongly apologizes to anyone who was offended by his “mistaken attempt at humor”
Although when Apple was reached out to by Forbes concerning Blevins statement, the company did not respond. However Apple confirmed to Bloomberg that its top executive Tony Blevins was no longer with the company.
Before his departure, Tony Blevins was Apple’s long time vice president of procurement who is in charge of striking deals with suppliers and partners having worked at the company for 22 years.
He recently worked on the company’s satellite agreement with Globalstar Inc., led negotiations over cellular modems with Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp., and has been in charge of driving down the costs of many critical parts that go into Apple’s mobile devices.
Some described Blevins as irreplaceable given how important he was to the company, but as the saying goes “no one is indispensable”, which has seen the company part ways with him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-2R-cjgW9I