NASHVILLE (AP) — 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.

"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 WKRN-TV.

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.

Stevens and his boyfriend, Jacob Geittmann, denied that they were "being obnoxiously loud or screaming profanities" in a statement to the news station.

"Before, during, or after the altercation, Johnson never mentioned our noise level or use of profanity to us or the chaperones," the statement said.

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.