Apple Procurement VP Departs Company After Vulgar TikTok Comment

Tony Blevins, Apple's vice president of procurement, is set to depart the company after he made a crude comment about his profession in a recent TikTok video, reports Bloomberg.

tony blevins car
Blevins was in a video by TikTok creator Daniel Mac, who was doing a series on the jobs of people he spotted with expensive cars. After seeing Blevins in an expensive Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, Mac asked Blevins what he does for a living, and Blevins had a lewd response. From Bloomberg:

When asked what he does for a living, Blevins said, "I have rich cars, play golf and fondle big-breasted women, but I take weekends and major holidays off." He also touted that he has a "hell of a dental plan." [...]

The TikTok video was taken at a car show that Blevins attended last month in Pebble Beach, California. His remarks in the 25-second clip reference a line from the 1981 movie Arthur, where main character Arthur Bach describes his own career: "I race cars, play tennis and fondle women, but I have weekends off and I am my own boss."

Blevins is in fact a high-ranking executive at Apple, and as Apple's vice president of procurement, his job was to work with suppliers and Apple partners. He was part of the team that inked a deal with Globalstar for Apple's iPhone 14 satellite functionality, and he has a reputation for aggressively negotiating with Apple suppliers to bring down Apple's costs.

In a 2020 profile, The Wall Street Journal said that Blevins had earned the nickname "the Blevinator" within Apple because of his tough stance on negotiations. Blevins was said to be the one encouraging Apple suppliers to deprive Qualcomm of royalty payments during the Qualcomm v. Apple dispute, and he was personally tapped by Apple CEO Tim Cook to manage negotiations for the Apple Park campus.

Apple held an internal investigation after learning about the TikTok video, and afterward, he was removed from his team of a dozen direct reports and several hundred employees. Blevins told Bloomberg that he was sorry for what he said. "I would like to take this opportunity to apologize to anyone who was offended by my mistaken attempt at humor," he said.

An Apple spokesperson also confirmed that Blevins will be leaving the company, a decision that came down to Apple's senior vice president of operations, Jeff Williams. Williams will be overseeing Blevins' team following his departure.

Note: Due to the political or social nature of the discussion regarding this topic, the discussion thread is located in our Political News forum. All forum members and site visitors are welcome to read and follow the thread, but posting is limited to forum members with at least 100 posts.

Popular Stories

iOS 26

iOS 26.1 Coming Soon: New Features for Your iPhone and Release Date

Monday October 27, 2025 7:55 am PDT by
The upcoming iOS 26.1 update includes a handful of new features and changes for iPhones, including a toggle for changing the appearance of the Liquid Glass design, "slide to stop" for alarms in the Clock app, and more. Below, we outline key details about iOS 26.1. Release Date Given that Apple has yet to seed an iOS 26.1 Release Candidate, which is typically the final beta version, the...
maxresdefault

Apple TV 4K Could Still Launch Before 2025 Ends: All the Rumored Features

Monday October 27, 2025 4:51 pm PDT by
Apple is designing an updated version of the Apple TV 4K, and rumors suggest that it could come out sometime in the next couple of months. We're not expecting a major overhaul with design changes, but even a simple chip upgrade will bring major improvements to Apple's set-top box. Subscribe to the MacRumors YouTube channel for more videos. We've rounded up all the latest Apple TV rumors. ...
iOS 26

6 New Things Your iPhone Can Do in iOS 26.1

Wednesday October 29, 2025 4:22 am PDT by
Apple is about to drop iOS 26.1, the first major point release since iOS 26 was rolled out in September, and there are at least six notable changes and improvements to look forward to. We've rounded them up below. Apple has already provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of iOS 26.1, which means Apple will likely roll out the update to all compatible...
M6 MacBook Pro Feature 1

M6 MacBook Pro: Release Date, Pricing, and What to Expect

Monday October 27, 2025 9:15 am PDT by
Apple this month refreshed the 14-inch MacBook Pro base model with its new M5 chip, and higher-end 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips are expected to follow in early 2026. However, these machines will represent the final update to the current design, with Apple reportedly developing a completely new version of the MacBook Pro packed with next-generation hardware...
iOS 26

Apple Seeds iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, and macOS Tahoe 26.1 Release Candidates

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:07 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate versions of upcoming iOS 26.1, iPadOS 26.1, macOS Tahoe 26.1, tvOS 26.1, watchOS 26.1, and visionOS 26.1 updates for testing purposes. The RCs betas come a week after Apple released the fourth betas. The new betas can be downloaded from the Settings app on a compatible device by going to General > Software...
iOS 26 Battery Glass Feature

iOS 26.1 Beta Liquid Glass Battery Drain Test: Tinted vs Clear Mode

Friday October 24, 2025 2:30 pm PDT by
In the fourth iOS 26.1 beta, Apple added a "Tinted" option that reduces the translucency of Liquid Glass for those who prefer a more opaque look. I saw some comments wondering whether the setting might preserve battery life, so I thought I'd do some testing. Test Settings I did four separate tests using the iPhone 17 Pro Max, and I kept the parameters as similar as possible. Here are the...
ios 26 digital id passport wallet

Apple Says U.S. Passport Feature on iPhone is Coming Soon

Monday October 27, 2025 7:41 am PDT by
You will "soon" be able to add a digital version of your U.S. passport to your iPhone, according to Jennifer Bailey, vice president of Apple Pay and Apple Wallet. Bailey reiterated that the feature is coming soon during her keynote at the Money20/20 USA conference in Las Vegas on Sunday. On its iOS 26 page, Apple says the delayed feature will be "coming later this year." Apple's...
All Screen iPhone 2027 Feature 1

iPhone XX? 6 Features Rumored for Apple's 20th Anniversary iPhone

Monday October 27, 2025 4:01 pm PDT by
For the 10th anniversary iPhone that came out in 2017, Apple introduced the iPhone X with Face ID, notch, and minimized bezels, providing more display space than ever before. The 20th iPhone anniversary is approaching and Apple wants to take the iPhone X design even further. We're two years away from the 2027 iPhone, but it's tough for Apple to keep major changes under wraps. We've rounded...
macos tahoe

Here Are Apple's Release Notes for macOS Tahoe 26.1

Tuesday October 28, 2025 1:21 pm PDT by
Apple today provided developers and public beta testers with the release candidate version of macOS Tahoe 26.1, which means the update will likely see a public launch next week. The release candidate includes notes on what's in the update, so we have a full picture of the new features that Apple has included. macOS Tahoe 26.1 adds AutoMix support over AirPlay, improved FaceTime audio...

Top Rated Comments

Rychiar Avatar
40 months ago
jeez can’t even make a joke anymore . This world sucks
Score: 291 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AltecX Avatar
40 months ago
The guy was at a car show, NOT at a company event or representing Apple and he was quoting a movie?

I dont get why people give a ****.
Score: 242 Votes (Like | Disagree)
icanhazmac Avatar
40 months ago
Stupid thing to say while being recorded? YES
Stupid thing to say while being recorded as an employee of Apple? YES
Poor attempt at humor? Depends on what you find funny, it was obviously a play on a line from a movie.
Should someone lose their job over an "in the moment" reaction to having a camera shoved in their face? NO
Cancel culture at work? YES
Score: 226 Votes (Like | Disagree)
AltecX Avatar
40 months ago

What utter trash. Apple only hires the best, huh?
How dare he quote funny movies! That dirtbag!
Score: 150 Votes (Like | Disagree)
bbednarz Avatar
40 months ago
Yikes. Fired for this innocent of a comment? Unreal.
Score: 149 Votes (Like | Disagree)
kiensoy Avatar
40 months ago

jeez can’t even make a joke anymore . This world sucks
It's not even his tiktok.
Score: 68 Votes (Like | Disagree)