Apple Executive Resigns After Viral TikTok Shows Him Making Crude Jokes

Giovana Gelhoren
·2 min read
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Apple VP Tony Blevins
Apple VP Tony Blevins

itsdanielmac/TikTok

A top Apple executive is leaving the company after appearing in a now-viral TikTok video making a crude joke, CNBC confirmed.

In the video, posted by user Daniel Mac on Sept. 5, Apple VP Tony Blevins is asked what he does for a living after the TikToker spotted his luxury car (a Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren). "I race cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women," Blevins responded. "But I take weekends and major holidays off."

As it turns out, the executive's answer was a reference to the 1981 movie Arthur in which the main character says "I race cars, I play tennis, I fondle women, but I have weekends off, and I am my own boss," Forbes reported.

Whether the reference was understood or not, Blevins added the "big-breasted" to the line himself. The video has now reached over 1.4 million views on the platform.

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On Thursday, an Apple representative confirmed to CNBC that Blevins will be leaving the company. "Tony is leaving Apple," the company told the outlet.

Since going viral, the 22-year veteran of Apple has also spoken out about the video. "I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely apologize to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor," Blevins said to Bloomberg.

Blevins was vice president of procurement at Apple and was known for negotiating low prices with suppliers, Bloomberg and Forbes reported. He recently worked on the company's satellite agreement with Globalstar Inc. and led negotiations over cellular modems with Qualcomm Inc. and Intel Corp., per Bloomberg.

In 2020, Blevins was titled as one of Apple's "most important executives" by the Wall Street Journal.

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An internal investigation in the company began after employees reported the video to human resources. According to Bloomberg, Blevin's former employees were frustrated by his insensitive comments, considering the company's claims of improving and supporting diversity and women's empowerment.

A representative for Apple did not respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.