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| Emily Ratajkowski Robin Thicke |
The American supermodel, 30, alleges Thicke groped her bare breasts from behind during filming of the song’s video. It featured her and two other half-naked models, alongside American-Canadian Thicke, Pharrell Williams and rapper TI, who were all fully clothed.
The video and lyrics, which involve Thicke, 44, repeatedly singing, “I know you want it”, were accused of glorifying rape culture, leading to a ban in some nightclubs and university campuses.
Ratajkowski makes the allegations in her forthcoming book, My Body, The Times revealed. She writes: “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger’s hands cupping my bare breasts from behind.
“I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke. He smiled a goofy grin and stumbled backward, his eyes concealed behind his sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set.”
Ratajkowski said Thicke’s actions made her feel “naked for the first time that day” but she had been “desperate to minimise” the incident.
“I pushed my chin forward and shrugged, avoiding eye contact, feeling the heat of humiliation pump through my body,” she said. “I didn’t react – not really, not like I should have.”
The video’s director, Diane Martel, said she witnessed the incident and “screamed” at Thicke, questioning his behaviour. “I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts. He was standing behind her as they were both in profile,” she told The Times.
Both Ratajkowski and Martel claim Thicke was drunk at the time.
Martel said that Thicke “sheepishly apologised” for his behaviour and praised Ratajkowski’s professionalism, as she continued the shoot.
The director said she intended for the video to subvert power dynamics, placing the men in an inferior position as the women ignored and mocked them.
Ratajkowski said Thicke’s actions compromised any sense of female empowerment. She said: “With that one gesture, Robin Thicke had reminded everyone on set that we women weren’t actually in charge.
“I didn’t have any real power as the naked girl dancing around in his music video. I was nothing more than the hired mannequin.”
Blurred Lines attracted additional controversy in 2015, when a jury awarded Marvin Gaye’s children nearly $7.4m (£5.5m) after determining singer Thicke and Williams copied their father’s music to create the hit.
Thicke’s representatives have not responded to a request for comment, according to the Times.
Sources: the guardian