Apple fires exec after he made crude jokes on the expensive car guy’s TikTok

Apple’s vice president of procurement, Tony Blevins, has been fired from the company after his crude remarks in a TikTok interview went viral, according to a report from Bloomberg. Earlier this month, creator Daniel Mac posted a video where he asked Blevins what he does for a living, which showed Blevins responding: “I race cars and play golf and fondle big-breasted women. But I take weekends and major holidays off.”

The video doesn’t identify Blevins by name and doesn’t reference his position at Apple, though Blevins does note that his job offers “a hell of a dental plan.” Mac’s format on TikTok mostly consists of walking up to people in expensive or luxurious cars and asking what they do for a living. As a slightly more safe for work example, check out him interviewing President Joe Biden in a Cadillac Lyriq.

Bloomberg reports that the video set off an internal investigation at Apple, which resulted in Blevins being removed as the head of his team. The report also says that it angered some employees, who thought the comments didn’t align with Apple’s goals of increasing women’s representation and empowerment. Blevins told Bloomberg that he “would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor.” Bloomberg says Blevins’ remark was a misquote of a line from the 1981 movie Arthur.

Apple has been known to be relatively strict about what its employees post on TikTok. Earlier this year, one engineer alleged that the company was threatening to fire her for a viral video offering tech support to someone who had their phone stolen. This situation isn’t exactly the same; Blevins didn’t post the video on his own, instead appearing in someone else’s video, but his comments are significantly less brand-friendly. In an internal document regarding social media posts, Apple tells employees: “we want you to be yourself, but you should also be respectful in posts, tweets, and other online communications.”

According to a profile from The Wall Street Journal, Blevins’ job at the company was to work with (or sometimes bully) suppliers and partners into giving the company better deals. He reportedly saved the company hundreds of millions of dollars during the construction of its Apple Park building.