T-Mobile CEO: AT&T and Verizon Are "F---ers" That Are "Raping You"

By Steve Kovach, Business Insider

20 June 14

-Mobile's CEO John Legere has a reputation for profanity-laced off-the-cuff remarks, but he may have pushed it a bit too far Wednesday night at the company's press event.

Everyone expected some f-bombs from Legere, but the following quote is extreme.

Speaking about AT&T and Verizon, the two largest carriers in the U.S. by a wide margin, Legere said:

"These high and mighty duopolists that are raping you for every penny you have ... the f------ hate you."

In an interview with Business Insider a few weeks ago, Legere acknowledged he speaks like that as a way to connect with his employees and customers. He sees himself as a man of the people, someone who can speak on the level of the average joe instead of coming off as a stiff executive.

"I don't walk closely up against the line. I ignore it. It's who I am," Legere said in that interview. "I may be a little rough and crude, but I'm much more like my customers and employees than I am an executive. I think employees relate to the way I speak, customers relate to exactly the way I think and talk. And it's who I am."

Legere may say he likes to ignore the line, but this is one instance where he probably should have paid attention.

UPDATE: Legere apologized for the comment on Twitter:

The Verge put together a supercut of some of Legere's strangest quotes from the event. There's some profanity: