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Apple Vice President Tony Blevins has been kicked out of Apple after he made a rude comment in a viral video on TikTok.
TikTok and Instagram creator Daniel Mac had approached Blevins for his series in which he asks expensive car owners about their work. Mac stopped the CEO as he parked a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, a car that can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The video, published on September 5, shows Blevins answering the question of what he does for a living.
“I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and important holidays off,” he said. Blevins also mentioned his “hell of a dental plan,” which he will presumably lose.
Tony Blevins in TikTok video
The video got over 40,000 likes on Instagram and 1.3 million views on TikTok. The clip was found by some employees of Apple’s operations and procurement teams that Blevins leads as vice president.
The employees reported the TikTok to Apple’s human resources department, who subsequently opened an investigation. The video also spread to employees and some of Apple’s key suppliers.
Jeff Williams, the company’s chief operating officer, was Blevins’ boss for most of the executive’s 22-year tenure with the company. Williams has reportedly made the decision that Blevins had to leave and is taking over his duties.
In a statement to BloombergBlevins confirmed the incident, saying it happened on August 18. “I would like to take this opportunity to offer my sincere apologies to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor,” he said.
During his tenure at Apple, Blevins, known as “The Blevinator”, led cellular modem negotiations with Qualcomm and Intel, and helped reduce the cost of key components in Apple devices. He recently worked with Apple’s satellite deal with Globalstar.
A report in 2020, Blevins described as a ruthless and sometimes ruthless negotiator who would stop at nothing to get Apple a favorable deal.