Senior Apple exec is fired after TikTok emerges of him joking about fondling ‘big-breasted women’ for a living as he gets out of his $500,000 Mercedes supercar
- Tony Blevins, a high ranking vice president at Apple, was fired after a viral TikTok showed him joking about fondling ‘big-breasted women’ for a living
- The video, centered around Blevins’ $500,000 Mercedes-Benz, was flagged in complaints by several hundred Apple employees
- Apple CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams were reportedly angered by the video, which was being viewed by staff and business partners
- Blevins, who’s worked for Apple for 22 years, apologized for his remarks
A senior Apple executive was sacked after a video on TikTok showed him joking about fondling ‘big-breasted women’ for a living.
Apple confirmed Thursday that Tony Blevins, a high ranking vice president, will be departing the Silicon Valley office after dozens of reports and complaints from several hundred employees alerted the company about the viral video since it was uploaded on September 5, Bloomberg reported.
In the video, TikToker Daniel Mac, who asks owners of expensive cars their occupation, approaches Blevins, 55, as he parks his $500,000 Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren.
Like he’s done dozens of times, Mac asks Blevins what he does for a living, with Blevins answering: ‘I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and major holidays off.
‘Also, if you’re interested, I got a hell of a dental plan.’
Quite the occupation this man has ✍️ #mercedesbenz #supercarstiktok #slr #car
Tony Blevins, a high ranking vice president at Apple, was fired after a viral TikTok showed him joking 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 a car show Blevins attended in Pebble Beach, California.
The former Apple executive appeared to be referencing the 1981 movie, Arthur, where the titular character describes his career as: ‘I race cars, play tennis and fondle women, but I have weekends off and I am my own boss.’
Although Mac and his viewers seemed to be amused by Blevins’ remarks, those at Apple took the video, which has more than 141,000 likes, seriously.
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 popular discussion among employees and business partners in recent weeks.
They claimed that CEO Tim Cook and COO Jeff Williams were among those angered by the comments.
Blevins, who’s worked at the tech giant for 22 years, confirmed that he was fired over the incident and offered an apology for his actions.
‘I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor,’ Blevins told Bloomberg.
Blevins had most recently served as the tech giant’s vice president of procurement, where Salary.com and Glassdoor estimated his salary between $273,000 and $377,000.
Among Apples 100 vice presidents, Blevins was with the about 30 who reported directly to Cook and Williams.
The video was reportedly distributed by many Apple employees and business partners, with top execs expressing anger over Blevins’ comments
Blevins served as Apple’s vice president of procurement, and was among the about 30 who reported directly to CEO Tim cook or COO Jeff Williams
The incident serves as a fall from grace for Blevins who recently worked to secure major deals to drive down costs for critical parts of Apple’s mobile devices.
Sources knowledge able his work told Bloomberg that Blevins has been pivotal in helping procure groundbreaking tech for Apple and beating out the competition.
In a 2020 Wall Street Journal feature about his prominence at Apple, Blevins told the outlet that he goes by ‘the Blevinator’ as he negotiates with suppliers to keep costs down for the tech giant.
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