Apple’s VP of Procurement Leaves Company After Offensive TikTok Video Comment
Tony Blevins, vice president of procurement at Apple, is apparently leaving the maker of iPhones, MacBooks, and other consumer electronics after making an offensive remark that went viral on TikTok.
In a video posted on September 5, Tiktok star Daniel Mac approached Blevin. In his series, he questions people who own expensive cars about their occupations. A Mercedes-Benz is shown being driven by Blevins.
“Good sir! Your car is awesome! What do you do for a living?,” Mac asked Blevin in the 25-second clip.
“I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women. But I take weekends and major holidays off,” Blevin replied. He added that he has a “hell of a dental plan.”
The phrase “I race cars, play tennis, and fondle women, but I have weekends off and I am my own boss” is used by the title character of the 1981 movie “Arthur” to describe his own job. Blevins’ comment appears to be a nod to that line.
The video has 1.4 million views as of the time of posting, 143,000 likes, 826 comments, and 2,789 shares.
According to Bloomberg, who broke the news first, Blevins was let go after some Apple employees working in operations and procurement reported the video to human services. According to reports, Apple COO Jeff Williams chose to sever ties with Blevins after conducting an internal probe. In the interim, Williams will apparently be in charge of Blevins’ previous group.
“I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor,” Blevins told the outlet.
Blevin’s primary duty, according to a 2020 Wall Street Journal feature, was to bargain with Apple suppliers in order to reduce the company’s expenses. According to the story, Blevins joined Apple in 2000 after working with Apple CEO Tim Cook at IBM.
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