Watch footage of Apple Store employees kicking out black teens [VIDEO]

A shocking video has emerged of white employees at an Apple store in Melbourne, Australia, who told black teens to leave the store over concerns that they would steal something, and CEO Tim Cook has responded.

The video, which can be seen below, shows one of the employees saying that he was concerned they “might steal something” and that they needed to stay out of the store, which caused an uproar across social media as it spread, according to a CNET report.

The teens were amazed at being told why they were being asked to leave the store, and Melbourne resident Francis Ose called it “simply racism” after posting the video on Facebook.

It prompted Cook to fire off a letter to his employees, which was obtained by Buzzfeed, in which he claimed that Apple was an “open” company and that he found the video to be shocking and unacceptable.

Apple has long struggled with accusations that it is not an inclusive company as most of its employees are white. It attempted to address some of these concerns by adding some African-American names to its executive team, including former Boeing CFO James A. Bell and Denise Young Smith. Cook is clearly attempt to quash the Melbourne incident quickly, telling his employees that the company would “learn and grow” from the incident.

Cook stated: “I’m sure you are all aware of the unacceptable incident which took place at our store at the Highpoint shopping center in Melbourne, Australia, on Tuesday,” he wrote. “Several young men, who are students at a nearby school, had been asked by a security guard to leave the store. In an attempt to address the situation, one of our store employees gave an answer which shocked many of us.

“What people have seen and heard from watching the video on the web does not represent our values,” he added. “It is not a message we would ever want to deliver to a customer or hear ourselves. Our employee immediately expressed his regret and apologized to the students.”