Robin Thicke’s blockbuster but much criticised hit Blurred Lines grew even more controversial on Monday as the singer revealed he never wrote it, according to court documents.
The Hollywood Reporter printed Thicke’s previously confidential deposition to a Los Angeles court where he volunteered that he had been high on the painkiller Vicodin and alcohol when he recorded the song and that he was not sober during later media interviews.
Thicke, speaking under oath, said that R&B artist and producer Pharrell Williams — who later released the smash hit Happy — had written Blurred Lines on which both perform. Thicke said he was envious and lied.
“After making six albums that I wrote and produced myself, the biggest hit of my career was written and produced by somebody else and I was jealous and wanted some of the credit,” he said.
“The record would have happened with or without me. I just was lucky enough to be there when he [Williams] wrote it and I was in the room,” Thicke said, according to the court documents reproduced by The Hollywood Reporter.
Misogynistic?
Blurred Lines was a worldwide hit in 2013 but faced charges it was misogynistic due to its refrain — “I’m gonna take a good girl/I know you want it” — and an accompanying video that prominently featured naked women.
Williams said in deposition two days before Thicke’s that he had composed the melody and written the lyrics for the hit, and that Thicke had “embellished” the origins of the song.
The hearing in April was part of a court process over claims by Marvin Gaye’s children that Blurred Lines copied the late legend’s song Got to Give it Up. A trial is expected next year.
Thicke earlier said that Blurred Lines was inspired by the Motown great. In court, Thicke hinted that racial factors were at play in his earlier comments, saying he had been called the “white Marvin Gaye” and sought to “embellish” the connection.
Despite his frank admissions, Thicke said he was sober during the court appearance. He said his separation two months earlier from his wife, actress Paula Patton, had led him to clean up his lifestyle.
Twerking with Cyrus
Thicke caused a sensation with a raunchy performance of Blurred Lines at last year’s MTV Video Music Awards with Miley Cyrus and was nominated for three Grammy awards this year, including record of the year for Blurred Lines. As the song became more popular, Thicke said, “I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was.”
He referenced Patton while being questioned.
When asked if he considered himself to be an honest person, Thicke answered: “No. That’s why I’m separated,” adding later “I told my wife the truth. That’s why she left me.”
When asked if he was dishonest in interviews, he said, “I tell whatever I want to say to help sell records.”
