>
A senior Apple executive was fired after a video on TikTok showed him a joke about fondling “big-breasted women” for a living.
Apple confirmed on Thursday that Tony Blevins, a senior vice president, will leave its Silicon Valley office after dozens of reports and complaints from several hundred employees about the viral video uploaded on September 5. Bloomberg reported.
In the video, TikToker approaches Daniel Mac, who asks owners of expensive cars about their occupation, Blevins, 55, as he parks his $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
As he’s done dozens of times, Mac asks Blevins what he does for a living, to which Blevins replies, “I own rich cars, play golf, and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and holidays off.”
“And if you’re interested, I have a great dental plan.”
Sources familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that members of Apple’s operations and procurement teams reported the video to Human Resources, with the topic becoming a popular discussion among employees and business partners in recent weeks.
They claimed CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams were among those angered by the comments.
Tony Blevins, a high-ranking vice president at Apple, was fired after a viral TikTok showed him a joke about fondling “big-breasted women” for a living
The video, centered around Blevins’ $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren (above), was flagged in complaints by several hundred Apple employees
The video was taken on August 18 at an auto show Blevins attended in Pebble Beach, California.
The former Apple executive seemed to be referring to the 1981 film Arthur, in which the title character describes his career as, “I race cars, play tennis and stroke women, but I have weekends off and I’m my own boss.”
He was the last to be approached by Mac, who has asked several well-known celebrities about their cars, including actress Helen Mirren, President Joe Biden, Brooklyn Beckham and Jay Leno.
While Mac and his viewers seemed amused by Blevins’ comments, those at Apple took the video, which has more than 141,000 likes, seriously.
Blevins, who has worked at the tech giant for 22 years, confirmed he had been fired over the incident and apologized for his actions.
“I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere apologies to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor,” Blevins told Bloomberg.
Blevins most recently served as vice president of purchasing for the tech giant, where Salary.com and Glassdoor estimate his salary to be between $273,000 and $377,000.
Among Apple’s 100 vice presidents, Blevins was among the 30 or so who reported directly to Cook and Williams.
The video was reportedly circulated by many Apple employees and business partners, with top executives expressing anger at Blevins’ comments.
Blevins was Apple’s vice president of purchasing and was among about 30 to report directly to CEO Tim Cook or COO Jeff Williams
The incident serves as a fall from favor for Blevins, who recently worked to close major deals to lower costs for critical parts of Apple’s mobile devices.
Sources aware of his work told Bloomberg that Blevins has been instrumental in getting Apple groundbreaking technology and beating the competition.
In a 2020 Wall Street Journal Speaking of his fame at Apple, Blevins told the outlet that he goes by “the Blevinator” when he negotiates with suppliers to keep costs down for the tech giant.