Apple's Jimmy Iovine Apologizes For Saying Women Can't Find Music

Mark Lelinwalla, Tech Times 20 November 2015, 01:11 pm

On Thursday, CBS This Morning debuted a new Apple Music ad, starring Kerry Washington, Taraji P. Henson and Mary J. Blige hanging out, having fun and jamming to some tunes the way friends do.

It's the second such Apple Music ad starring the celebrities, and the first one aired to rave reviews in September.

As part of the reveal Thursday, though, the morning show had Blige herself and Apple Music co-founder Jimmy Iovine live in the studio to speak on the benefits of the streaming service, which offers over 30 million songs.

However, when asked about what the ad was trying to convey, Iovine's answer trumped the perks of the service altogether ... and things got awkward.

"Women find it very difficult at times — some women — to find music ... and this helps make it easier," Iovine said live on the air.

Iovine's explanation got worse.

"I just thought of a problem, you know — girls are sitting around, you know, talking about boys," he continued. "Or complaining about boys, you know, when they're heartbroken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? So it's hard to find the right music, you know."

Needless to say, Iovine was blasted by fans on social media, to the point where he became a trending topic and issued an apology statement to the media.

"We created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone — men and women, young and old," he said. "Our new ad focuses on women, which is why I answered the way I did, but of course the same applies equally for men. I could have chosen my words better, and I apologize."

For what it's worth, CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King said the Apple Music co-founder's comments were taken out of context.

"I feel so badly about this because we called Jimmy Iovine to unveil the commercial here and we were all sitting at the table and it's just hurtful I think that something he said is so taken out of context, because when you see the whole interview, that's not at all the case ... I get the point that he was making," she said, as reported by CBS. "Those of us who know him know that the last thing he is is sexist."