Director Who Saw Robin Thicke Allegedly Grope Emily Ratajkowski Says He Only Did It Because He Was Drunk
This 'excuse' has got to go.
Model and actress Emily Ratajkowski has come forward and said that she was sexually assaulted by Robin Thicke on the set of his 2013 music video for “Blurred Lines.”
Ratajkowski made the claims in her upcoming new book, “My Body,” which will be released on November 9.
She said that she had initially enjoyed shooting the music video for the highly controversial song. It was a female-led production team, and everything was going good, until it wasn’t.
Now, Ratajkowski's story casts an even darker shadow on a song that already has such a problematic legacy.
What is wrong with 'Blurred Lines'?
Ratajkowski claiming that Thicke assaulted her on set of a song that is all about breaching consent proves that 'Blurred Lines' was problematic from the outset.
Emily Ratajkowski says Robin Thicke groped during filming.
"Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger's hands cupping my bare breasts from behind," Ratajkowski wrote of the alleged assault. "I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke."
She continued her recount of the event, saying, "He smiled a goofy grin and stumbled backward, his eyes concealed behind his sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set."
The director of the music video, Diane Martel, also saw the event happen, asking Ratajkowski, “Are you ok?”
Martel corroborates Emily Ratajkowski’s story.
“I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts," Martel said in an interview with the Times. "One in each hand. He was standing behind her as they were both in profile."
Martel recounted how the Blurred Lines singer had been drinking while recording the video, and had apparently apologized after the incident.
"Robin sheepishly apologized," Martel said. "As if he knew it was wrong without understanding how it might have felt for Emily."
Ratajkowski wrote that the assault had made her feel “naked for the first time that day,” and she hadn’t outwardly acknowledged it directly after it had happened.
"I pushed my chin forward and shrugged, avoiding eye contact, feeling the heat of humiliation pump through my body," Ratajkowski wrote. "I didn't react — not really, not like I should have."
There is no excuse for Thicke to have put his hands on Ratajkowski without her consent, whether he was drunk or not.
Martel even made a remark saying that if Thicke was sober, he wouldn’t have done that, which again, doesn’t matter and doesn’t take away from the assault.
'Blurred Lines' has always been about breaching consent.
The song itself received major backlash and was the dubbed “the most controversial song of the decade,” for it’s inappropriate lyrics, which include the line “I know you want it,” that seemed to be glamourizing sexual violence.
The unrated version of the music video was also banned from YouTube.
This also isn’t the first time that Robin Thicke has been accused of abusive behavior. In 2017, a judge had ordered for Thicke to have only monitored visits with this 6-year-old son and to stay away from his ex-wife, Paula Patton.
Patton had accused her ex-husband of physically abusing her during their marriage before the pair split in 2015. She filed a report in which she detailed events of Thicke pushing her to the ground and kicking her during a fight in April 2013.
Patton also reported that Thicke had shown up to her mother’s house while their son was being interviewed by child services and refused to leave, demanding to see his son and banging on the door.
Unwanted sexual advances and physical abuse shouldn’t be taken lightly, especially in the entertainment industry where these issues seemed to be constantly brushed under the rug.
There needs to be more conversations held about men who abuse their power and feel the need to make women feel smaller just because they can.
It’s disgusting and there should never be room for it to happen in the first place.
Nia Tipton is a writer living in Brooklyn. She covers pop culture, social justice issues, and trending topics. Follow her on Instagram.