The head of the music department for Apple Jimmy Iovine is apologizing for a recent comment he made in which he said that women have difficulty finding music. Iovine made the original comment while he appeared on CBS This Morning.
Iovine apologized for his remarks, saying, “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.”
The ad that Iovine is talking about featured Kerry Washington, Taraji P. Henson and Mary J. Blige talking about the new music service from Apple while they were making dinner. Iovine has said that Apple started these ads with the hopes of reaching more women.
When Iovine appeared on the show, he discussed the ad, saying, “I always knew that women, some women, at times find it very difficult to find music. And this helps make it easier with playlists, curated by real people, not by algorithms alone.”
He also said that it was often challenging for women to come up with music that properly suited their moods.
“I just thought of a problem: Girls are sitting around talking about boys or complaining about boys when they have their heart broken or whatever. And they need music for that, right? It’s hard to find the right music. Not everybody knows a DJ,” he said.
Of course, it wasn’t much of a surprise when his comments sparked a backlash on social media. This prompted Iovine to issue his apology. The hosts of CBS This Morning have since defended Iovine, saying that his comments were taken out of context.
Co-host of the show Norah O’Donnell even agreed with Iovine, saying that she indeed has difficult time finding new music. She said that the interview was never meant to be sexist, and the comments were totally misinterpreted by people who didn’t watch the entire interview.
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