Emily Ratajkowski accuses Robin Thicke of touching her breasts in Blurred Lines video
Emily Ratajkowski claims that Robin Thicke crossed a line on the set of her 2013 music video.
In her new book My Body of her, the model and actress, who starred in the music video for Blurred Lines along with Thicke, Pharrell Williams, T.I. and two other models, she alleges that Thicke touched her while they were filming the visual for her song.
"Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coldness and strangeness of a stranger's hands cradling my bare breasts from behind. I instinctively turned away and looked at Robin Thicke," she wrote in her book as confirmed by E! News. He grinned a goofy grin and staggered back, his eyes hidden behind the sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set. [Director Diane Martel's] voice cracked when he yelled at me. , 'Are you okay?'"
In excerpts from the book initially published by The Sunday Times, Ratajkowski shared that the alleged incident made her feel "naked for the first time that day," but she was "desperate to minimize" what had happened.
"I pushed my chin forward and shrugged, avoiding eye contact, feeling the heat of humiliation pump through my body," she continued. "I didn't react, not really, not like I should have."
Director Martel also told The Sunday Times that she was a witness to the alleged assault. "I remember the time when she grabbed his breasts. One in each hand," she said. "He was standing behind her as they were both in profile."
Martel said she yelled, "'What the hell are you doing, that's all !! Shooting is over !!'" Also, she told the newspaper that Thicke "apologized shyly. As if she knew she was wrong without understanding how she would have felt to Emily."
Both Martel and Ratajkowski said Thicke had been drinking prior to the alleged assault. In her interview with The Sunday Times, Martel recounted that she told the record company they would stop filming, but that Ratajkowski said they could continue. Ratajkowski also said that she did not allow herself to acknowledge the alleged incident, the newspaper continued, until Thicke allegedly blocked her on Instagram.
Blurred Lines rose to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 2013. However, some criticized the song for its lyrics and said it referred to non-consensual sex.
"Pharrell and I never wrote and would never write a song with a negative connotation like that," Thicke said in a 2015 interview with The New York Times. "I think the song by itself, I don't think it would have existed. Once the video came out, that changed the conversation."
While "Martel intended for the video to subvert the power dynamic," wrote The Sunday Times, Ratajkowski noted in his book, "With that one gesture, Robin Thicke had reminded everyone on set that women weren't really in charge. I didn't have any real power like the naked girl dancing in his music video. I was just the hired mannequin. "
AND! News has reached out to representatives for Ratajkowski and Thicke, but has not received any comment.
