UPDATED 8:50 p.m. PT to include Jimmy Iovine and Gayle King's statements following the backlash
Apple Music executive Jimmy Iovine has apologized for comments he made on CBS This Morning Thursday regarding women's use of the streaming service.
"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," Iovine said in a statement sent to Mashable.
CBS This Morning co-host Gayle King also defended Iovine on Twitter Thursday evening.
C'mon ppl! Plz listen to full @cbsthismorning intvu w/ @interscopejimmy. women&music comments totally taken out of context Not fair to him!— Gayle King (@GayleKing) November 20, 2015
Original story:
Apple Music's latest marketing tactic isn't music to everyone's ears.
The head of the streaming service, Jimmy Iovine, took to CBS This Morning with Mary J. Blige Thursday to discuss Apple Music's recent ad campaign aimed toward women -- and may have inadvertently alienated a few in the process.
"Women find it very difficult at times -- some women -- to find music," Iovine said. "This helps make it easier."
The streaming service, Iovine said, aims to offer girls and women the perfect playlist for every occasion, including making dinner and exercising.
"I just thought of a problem, you know, girls are sitting around, talking about boys, right?" Iovine said. "Or complaining about boys, when they've had their heart broken or whatever, and they need music for that, right?"
Dinner with @maryjblige, @kerrywashington and @TherealTaraji?? Sounds like a PARTY. https://t.co/PTC4Zk9Ul3https://t.co/dWhwb5Jaef— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) November 19, 2015
Iovine and Blige appeared on the morning show to debut the latest of two Apple Music ads starring the Grammy Award-winning singer and actresses Kerry Washington and Taraji P. Henson. In the most recent commercial, the women dance to an Apple Music playlist while preparing food in the kitchen.
The trio's first Apple Music ad aired during the Emmys in September and touted the tagline "Instant Boyfriend Mixtape Service."
Playlists, the new mixtapes. Go ahead ladies! @maryjblige @kerrywashington @TherealTarajihttp://t.co/cctGZAhwuPhttps://t.co/VTnkmeEr4E— Apple Music (@AppleMusic) September 21, 2015
During the interview, Blige backed Iovine's vision for the ad campaign.
"The day that Jimmy brought the idea to me it was like, 'Wow, why didn't I think of that?'" Blige said. "It was a genius idea to have girls, because that's what we do when we get together, we listen to music, we talk about life, love, marriage, things like that."
Though no one seemed to take issue with Iovine's assertions during the interview -- co-host Gayle King joked "He's talking about me," -- some women in the music industry used social media to criticize his comments.
Oh Hell No. https://t.co/zaaQrB3mNw pic.twitter.com/ubP5xHxkqa— Emily White (@emwhitenoise) November 19, 2015
Hey Iovine I assure you that as a music editor I don't find it difficult to find music. So. https://t.co/8EZ4haxUjP— Hilary Hughes (@hilmonstah) November 19, 2015
Happy Int'l Men's Day. https://t.co/5IxHEquf63 pic.twitter.com/CaL3VepP5x— Lauren Nostro (@laurennostro) November 19, 2015
I blacked out in rage and wrote about why women don't need Jimmy Iovine to mansplain music to us for @observer. https://t.co/HRvEzYv0WA— ilana kaplan (@lanikaps) November 19, 2015
The way I feel about Jimmy Iovine's comments rn pic.twitter.com/3wzcDETZ99— ilana kaplan (@lanikaps) November 19, 2015
Maybe Apple Music could offer a playlist for women to listen to while shutting down Iovine?