<p>NASHVILLE, Tenn. — A Tennessee man who was fired from his position as CEO of a telemedicine company for remarks he made to a male student in a prom dress said he approached the teen due to his behavior, not his attire.</p>
<p>“They were being obnoxious and profane in one of my favorite restaurants. Many of us in the restaurant were appalled and I was the only one willing to say something about it,” Sam Johnson told <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/fired-ceo-says-incident-with-franklin-teen-was-about-behavior-not-boys-prom-dress/">WKRN-TV</a>.</p>
<p>Johnson was fired Monday from VisuWell after being captured on video making disparaging remarks to James Dalton Stevens, who was taking photos with a group of other teens Saturday before prom.</p>
<p>Stevens and his boyfriend, Jacob Geittmann, denied that they were “being obnoxiously loud or screaming profanities” in a statement to the news station.</p>
<p>“Before, during, or after the altercation, Johnson never mentioned our noise level or use of profanity to us or the chaperones,” the statement said.</p>
<p>Johnson said he stands for decency and morality and apologized to the teen for calling him an “idiot" in the video when responding to a question about how he looked in the dress.</p>
