Music

Apple Music head Jimmy Iovine says dumb sexist stuff about women and music

by Jesse Locke

Apple Music head, Interscope/Beats By Dre co-founder, and music industry Lex Luthor Jimmy Iovine recently appeared on CBS This Morning to reinforce some sexist beliefs behind the streaming service. The problem started earlier this year when Apple aired a polarizing TV spot featuring Mary J. Blige, Kerry Washington, and Taraji P. Henson. The trio of friends (who were originally intended to include Oprah) crack some jokes in the kitchen while comparing its playlist curation to a “boyfriend that makes you a mixtape.” Watch it below:

With Blige by his side, Iovine’s CBS appearance coincided with International Men’s Day in more ways than one. When asked to explain the concept behind the commercial, he offered the following:

“I always knew that women find it very difficult at times – some women – to find music. And this helps makes it easier with playlists, curated by real people. They’re not made by algorithms alone – they’re made by algorithms but with a human touch.”

Does this even need to be spelled out? Instead of “some women” finding music discovery difficult, how about “some people”? Mary J. is given a brief moment of airtime to discuss how much fun she had on set, before the attention is directed back to Jimmy, who continues with some even more blatantly gendered stereotyping:

“I just thought of a problem: 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.”

Watch the full interview here:

To his credit, or more importantly to the credit of everyone who pointed out how dumb and sexist his original quotes were, Iovine has since issued a statement to Refinery 29 as a clarification and apology:

“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.”