Apple Music Exec Shares Sexist Remarks About Women

Jimmy Iovine, head of the Apple Music streaming service, appeared on CBS This Morning with Mary J. Blige to discuss a new Apple Music commercial featuring Blige along with Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson. The ad, which can be viewed below, portrays the three women as friends getting together for dinner. Washington proceeds to use Apple Music to create a playlist for the event, and the women dance around the kitchen to songs that make them feel “sexy.”

When asked about the creative concept for the commercial, Iovine explained that he wanted to show how the Apple Music streaming service could make it easier for women who, according to him, have difficulty finding new music on their own:

“I just thought of a problem, you know: girls are sitting around, you know, talking about boys. 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. Not everybody has the right lists, or knows a DJ or something. So you need great lists. You need great lists for dinner. You need great lists for exercising. You need great lists for moments like that.”

From Iovine’s masculine perspective, women need music for comfort in the wake of boy drama, or when they’re in the kitchen cooking dinner, or when they’re exercising to maintain their appearance. He ignores women who do turn to music for comfort after heartbreak, but in non-heteronormative relationships with other women or people who do not categorize themselves within the gender binary. He ignores women who listen to music while driving to and from work, who are too busy to be at home cooking dinner. He ignores the countless other situations in which women listen to music that do not revolve around men and the domestic sphere.

Not only does Iovine’s comment speak to outdated, gender normative stereotypes, but they reveal his underlying sentiments that women are essentially unable to do simple things, such as finding new music, without assistance.

Iovine has since then issued an apology via Buzzfeed News: “We created Apple Music to make finding the right music easier for everyone — men and women, young and old. 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.”