Emily Ratajkowski Interview Nov 2019 (Photo : Ashley Graham, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons)
Emily Ratajkowski recently published in her new book, My Body, said that when she starred in Robin Thicke's music video, "Blurred Lines," alongside Pharell Williams, T.I, and two other models, that she felt "naked for the first time that day," after Thicke groped her.
In excerpts from the book that was published by The Sunday Times, the model/actress shared the incident in vivid detail but was "desperate to minimize" what just happened.
"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."
"I pushed my chin forward and shrugged, avoiding eye contact, feeling the heat of humiliation pump through my body ... I didn't react--not really, not as I should have."
Director Diane Martel also yelled out to Ratajkowski, asking if she was ok, based on the book. And went on telling The Sunday Times that she witnessed what has transpired, "I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts. One in each hand ... He was standing behind her as they were both in profile."
Martel then screamed obscenities demanding that the shoot was over even when Thicke "sheepishly apologized. As if he knew it was wrong without understanding how it might have felt for Emily."
Thicke had allegedly been drinking before the alleged assault, as stated by both women. Ratajkowski insisted on finishing the shoot as she herself stated that she didn't want to accept what had happened right until Thicke blocked her on Instagram.
Martel's reason for the music video was intended to subvert the power dynamics. However, Ratajkowski wrote in her book, "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" skyrocketed to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart back in 2013, regardless of the many criticisms it got about the lyrics being referenced to nonconsensual sex.
Thicke had this to say in an interview with the New York Times, "Pharrell and I have never and would never write a song with any negative connotation like that ... I think the song on its own--I don't think that would have existed. Once the video came out, that changed the conversation."
Photo: Ashley Graham, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
