Robin Thicke disowns ‘Blurred Lines,’ he blames it on Pharrell & Vicodin

Robin Thicke

Just when I think Robin Thicke can’t get any douchier, he outdoes himself. 2014 has been a total disaster for Robin. He should be curled up in a fetal position. No one bought his stalky album. Paula Patton ditched him and triumphantly moved forth with her life. Aaand (this is my favorite part) everyone laughed at Robin’s unintentionally hilarious acting debut in Making the Rules. The movie went straight to VOD. If you watch these lowlight-highlights, you’ll see why. He is a terrible actor and full of awkward silences.

Maybe 2015 will be a better trip for Thicke? Ha. He certainly won’t be working with Pharrell again. Thicke, Pharrell, and T.I. initially filed suit to protect themselves after people noticed “Blurred Lines” ripped off Marvin Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up.” Marvin Gaye’s family countersued. Gaye’s family filed for summary motion last week, and Robin’s bizarre deposition has been made public. Robin initially told several outlets that he co-wrote the song with Pharrell. Robin once told the BBC he wrote it for Paula because “She’s my good girl.” Robin once confessed to GQ magazine that and Pharrell purposely fashioned the song after Gaye’s classic.

Robin’s changing his story. Robin says he had nothing to do with writing “Blurred Lines.” He only said that junk because he was high on Vicodin, yo. Hollywood Reporter has a detailed analysis of the depo (you can see the full article here here). Some highlights:

[Thicke] says under oath that after writing and producing six albums himself, “I was jealous and I wanted some of the credit … I tried to take credit for it later because [Williams] wrote the whole thing pretty much by himself and I was envious of that.”

In his deposition, Thicke soon gets more specific:

“Q: Were you present during the creation of ‘Blurred Lines’?

Thicke: I was present. Obviously, I sang it. I had to be there.

Q: When the rhythm track was being created, were you there with Pharrell?

Thicke: To be honest, that’s the only part where — I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted — I — I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit. So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I — because I didn’t want him — I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song.”

Thicke says he was just “lucky enough to be in the room” when Williams wrote the song. Afterward, he gave interviews to outlets like Billboard where he repeated the false origin story surrounding “Blurred Lines” because he says he “thought it would help sell records.” But he also states he hardly remembers his specific media comments because he “had a drug and alcohol problem for the year” and “didn’t do a sober interview.” In fact, when he appeared on Oprah Winfrey’s show with his young son and talked about how weird it was to be in the midst of a legal battle with the family of a legendary soul singer who “inspires almost half of my music,” Thicke admits he was drunk and taking Norco — “which is like two Vicodin in one pill,” he says.

The singer addresses his honesty (“I told my wife the truth. That’s why she left me.”) and after saying he’s been sober for many months, clarifies toward the end of the deposition that he’s given up Vicodin but not alcohol.

[From Hollwyood Reporter]

For whatever reason, Pharrell let Robin have a co-writer credit, so Thicke gets about 18-22 percent of the song’s royalties. Robin gladly took that money, and he enjoyed the “prestige” of writing a douchey song with a clever beat. Now Robin wants none of the credit but only because of the lawsuit. Of course. Oh, and Robin says Paula left him because he lied about writing “Blurred Lines.” Not because he was hitting it with other chicks. Mega douche.

This pic illustrates how I imagine Pharrell reacting to this mess.

Pharrell

Photos courtesy of WENN

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82 Responses to “Robin Thicke disowns ‘Blurred Lines,’ he blames it on Pharrell & Vicodin”

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  1. Ag says:

    way to throw someone under the bus, a-hole. face the lawsuit like a man, dude. if you plagiarized, say our sowwies and pay up.

    • Esmom says:

      Seriously. Burning a bridge with Pharrell seems like the absolutely worst thing he could do if he wants a career.

      • denisemich says:

        Missing in the article above is that in Pharrell’s deposition he says that he solely wrote the song.

        I believe that Artists take credit for songs they didn’t write all the time. I think Sia may have said that Artists will change a word and want song writing credit.

        After the lawsuit is over, the credits for the song should go solely to Pharrell and Robin should pay him back any royalties.

        Robin has a drug and alcohol problem and should get help. I am not sure if he suffers from permanent douchiness…

      • Esmom says:

        Hm, I didn’t realize that, so Thicke was basically agreeing with him vs throwing him under the bus, I guess. Still the guy seems like a complete mess.

      • Ag says:

        that’s interesting.

      • V4Real says:

        Yep Pharrell admitted he wrote the song. A lot of singers take sole credit or most of the credit for writing songs that they may change a few words on( I’m looking at you Beyonce).

        It’s still funny how Thicke took credit for writing the song until he got slapped with the lawsuit. Yeah I wrote the song. Thicke you have been served. I mean he wrote the song, points to Pharrell.

        In his defense though in the court of law you have to state who the original writer is.

    • SnarkGirl says:

      Kiss your career good-bye dude.

      I think this is his third strike. Douche-y behavior with the wife – strike 1. Crap stalker-ish album – strike 2. Throwing (or attempting to) big name artist under the bus to try and save your ass – strike 3.

      Buh-bye.

    • Rose says:

      How can anyone own a beat?

    • SK says:

      I think he was actually saying his wife left him when he admitted to his drug and alcohol problem and all the lies around it. Not when he admitted he lied about writing Blurred Lines.

  2. MrsBPitt says:

    Robin Thicke deserves the Douche of the Universe award!

  3. Snazzy says:

    Yes, I want Pharell’s hat. No I am not ashamed.
    In other news, Robin once more confirms his lack of male genitalia …

  4. Deanne says:

    I absolutely loathe Robin Thicke. That is all.

  5. Jaderu says:

    OMG I watched it. I watched the clip of his acting debut. LOL he actually got out-acted by his own hair.

    Man he has gone above and beyond douche and is now back-douching. Retracing his own douche steps.

  6. belladonna says:

    Geez, I thought he was getting a douche rep because people are catty but I think this proves it beyond a shadow of a doubt. He tanked so hard, so fast its mesmerizing.

  7. Brin says:

    He needs to crawl under a rock and never come out again.

  8. doofus says:

    I guess I missed it, but what was the initial suit against the Gaye family filed FOR, exactly?

    I mean, I know it was preemptive (because they likely knew they’d get sued), but what did they claim was the basis for it?

  9. Jayna says:

    His career just crashed to the bottom. Trying to throw Pharrell under the bus? And how does this help his case? He is credited and receives royalties on the song. It’s shocking to see someone hit their peak year careerwise crash and burn in such spectacular fashion. A year ago I never would have seen this coming.

    The R&B community just tossed you to the side for being the weak, douche you are, Robin.

    • V4Real says:

      Thicke is a douche but he didn’t throw Pharrell under the bus. They are not giving you the complete story. Pharrell admitted to writing the song, he had to because of the lawsuit. Robin just pretty much confirmed what Pharrell admitted.

    • Tulip Garden says:

      It’s funny how quickly the tide can turn. I remember when posters were comparing Thicke and Timberlake and basically saying that Thicke was the more talented, real deal. Now, not so much. While Timberlake has his arrogance, no doubt, I do believe he actually writes his own music.

      • dante says:

        Unfortunately it’s quite commonplace for well-established artists in the music business to wind up taking credit, and receive royalties, for work that another person has actually written.

        A songwriter knows, or at least feels comfortable, with the idea that Thicke is going to sell a lot of records, and is offered the choice of giving Thicke credit for being a co-writer or not having the song recorded by him. Thus, you can make a heck of a lot of money, but less than you deserved, or have the choice of possibly making no money at all.

        This has been going on forever. It sucks, but its the reality. I often think of this dilemma with an artist like Taylor Swift. I’ve heard live recordings of her that indicate she’s really not much of a singer, and not all that great on her instrument, either. How does she wind up writing these excellent, wildly popular tunes, when she seems to have little in the way of music chops? Robin Thicke is probably giving you the answer right here of how Taylor Swift does it.

      • Tulip garden says:

        See I think Swift absolutely writes her own music. Whether or not she should let someone else perform it is debatable. Songwriters aren’t necessarily good singers and visa versa.
        I get what you are saying though and I agree.

      • V4Real says:

        Thicke is more of an R&B singer and has written songs for other artists, he’s more R&B than Timberlake. BTW Timberlake does not write his own songs. He’s another artist that may change and add a few words to a song in order to take credit for it.

      • Snap Happy says:

        I heard an interview with Pharrel on Howard Stern. He described coming up with the song and a friend of his inspired the good girl part. Thicke seems to just be confirming this. Also, Pharrell was very effusive when complimenting Thicke’s musical abilities. He called him a “beast” on stage. This was only like a month ago so it was way after the Blurred lines hoopla. He didn’t really have to say it.

  10. Birdix says:

    He seems so entitled, narcissistic, morally bankrupt that its fascinating, in a repulsive way. How did he get here? Was he born someone who always took the easy way out and prioritized his immediate needs, or did the circumstances of his life lead him down this path? Or some combination, I suppose. What a mess.

  11. Rusty machine says:

    Is Vicodin the new code word for cocaine?

  12. Chocolate bunny says:

    Pharrell is not a victim, he went along with the ordeal as well.

  13. Jaded says:

    What a weenie. The only way he could rehabilitate his tattered image now is to grow some cojones and admit he effed up in a huge way, fall on his sword, ask the world’s forgiveness and go silent for a long time to reinvent himself as a decent human being.

  14. Cocoa says:

    Why are you attacking just Robin? They ask Pharrell if he could read music and asked him to read a sheet of music, and he would’nt.

  15. InVain says:

    That “acting debut” was one of the THE MOST uncomfortable things I’ve ever watched. I feel so bad for Jaime Pressly. THE HAIR. Both of them….W T F? He’s so smarmy, *blech*

    Please go away Robin. I’m begging you. Because you suck.

  16. Jessius Maxiumus says:

    This sounds awfully similar to La Lohan’s go-to “It wasn’t me, it was the black guy.”

    • TQB says:

      OH SNAP!

    • Brooklyn queen says:

      Umm the black guy was a part of it!

    • decorative item says:

      As I said on another site, he would have done the same thing had Parell been white. This has nothing to do with race and everything to do with Robin being a little d–k. Don’t forget he did the same thing to Miley too.

      • cocoa says:

        You are not to bright, are you? He and “Parell” both had to admit the who wrote the song, so Robin was not doing anything to “Parell” or the shank trash Miley.

      • decorative item says:

        @ cocoa
        Nope, I didn’t know about that, so call me uninformed if you like. But, I wasn’t talking about if he wrote the song or not, I was talking about if he was a racist. And, you proved my point by the way. ( Yeah, just think about it for a while)
        He did throw Miley under the bus when he said that the grinding she did to him was not rehearsed. She released the video of the rehearsal proving that he DID throw her under the bus.

  17. TQB says:

    How charming that he was totally willing to take credit for the song when it was merely rapey and misogynistic, but add a charge of plagiarism and he throws up his hands and backs away.

  18. ToodySezHey says:

    Ugh, Robin. It’s a damn shame. Fame ruined this dude. He got some crossover shine (many white folks didn’t know who he was til Blurred Lines, but black radio had been ripping for him since 2005 when he broke out with ‘Lost Without You’) went mainstream. …and then lost his damn mind. Dude must have thought he was the next coming of Robin Gaye.

    Now a year later he is an artistic joke and his marriage is destroyed. .

    In some ways it’d like poetic justice. When the Super Bowl fiasco went down in 2004, Justin Timberlake threw Janet Jackson under the bus and we haven’t heard from her since.

    After the VMA’s, Robin blamed the whole tweak mess on Miley. ..and a year later Miley ‘ s career is just fine and his personal and professional life is in the toilet.

    Damn homie, in high school you was the man, homie

    Tha fk happened to you?

    • Greyson says:

      Ugh, Robin. It’s a damn shame. Fame ruined this dude. He got some crossover shine (many white folks didn’t know who he was til Blurred Lines, but black radio had been ripping for him since 2005 when he broke out with ‘Lost Without You’) went mainstream. …and then lost his damn mind.”
      —-
      ^^ This!!

      Yeah he went off the rails when he became “mainstream”. So sad!

  19. whatsmyname? says:

    Pharrell himself admitted to giving Robin credit even though he didn’t write any of it. I think it’s funny how Pharrell keeps getting a pass through all of this.

    I would not have thought that Robin would have been better off WITHOUT the success that he got. He had actual cred before as a songwriter/producer and his old songs are actually good. He should have just kept what he had going, now he doesn’t have a career and he lost his wife for nothing.

    • Eyes on me says:

      Well said! Pharrell has gotten a slap on the wrist while Robin has been vilified. Pharrell is always ripping off people. But wack ass website like this one just attack Robin.

      • whatsmyname? says:

        Did you read what Pharrell said about how the mainstream don’t give white men singing soulfully a shot that often? He is a mess.

      • Bubulle says:

        There is not that much going on under that hat :

        “Asked whether Marvin Gaye has influenced him, Williams says, “He’s an Aries. I respect him.”

        ” Williams’ own testimony also got off to a belligerent start. At one point during the examination, Williams says he can read music, but then is shown a transcription of a song, and is asked to identify notes and durations. “I’m not comfortable,” Williams responds eight times as Busch presses to figure out whether he really can read music.”

    • Cocoa says:

      Such a mess! Pharrell profit from the success of the song but Robin is the only one getting dragged. I still love Robin Thicke’s music and him.

  20. Jennifer says:

    I remember how Alan Thicke was so proud of him after the on stage/ humping on Miley debacle. Doucheyness must run in the family. I also remember when Alan Thicke was seeing Kristy Swanson.. Their whole family is ick. Did anyone emerge from Growing Pains as a normal person? Boner committed suicide, Tracey Gold has several issues, Kirk Cameron is Kirk Cameron..

    • Mixtape says:

      You’ve got it all wrong. It wasn’t RT grinding Miley, it was Pharrell dressed as RT dressed as Beetlejuice. Sure, RT was there, but he was high as a kite wearing a large teddy bear costume, he barely knew what was going on. He only took credit for the performance when the press went crazy for it the next day. Also, it was Pharrell who cheated with all those famemongers and made Paula leave.

  21. lucy2 says:

    The way I see it, everyone involved in this song ripped off MG, and the estate should be compensated based on the sales of the song.

    Beyond that, whatever agreement they had, it’s pretty gross of RT to claim credit when everything’s good and then try to wash his hands of all responsibility when things turn bad.

  22. Lara K says:

    I wonder how much worse he can get… Every time he hits bottom, he just keeps digging!
    I’m just astonished at his capacity for douchery. He’s made it into an art form.
    I’m sure there’s a doctoral thesis in psychology in there somewhere…

  23. Chem says:

    Maybe he meant that he told his wife the truth and the truth being that he is an addict not about the song??? Because saying that his wife left him because of lying about the song sounds stupid, maybe he’s still on drugs.

  24. Eleonor says:

    Vicodin ? Who the hell he thinks he is ? Dr. House ?

  25. here's Wilson says:

    Not that it means anything but taking a norco does not equal two vicodain they are pretty much the same pill I’ve never prescribed both

  26. Malificent says:

    Is this a Douche-22? Cop to plagiarism or confess that you lied when taking credit in the first place.

  27. Izzy says:

    And let’s not forget the total cluster that was Robin’s Q&A on Twitter. That was EPIC.

  28. Nudgie says:

    I take a good bit of vicodin )only as prescribed) because of a once-broken back and the surgeries and left-over stuff from all that hacking and slicing.

    No matter how much I took and how much alcohol I supplemented it with, I NEVER, NEVER, NEVER saw anything that come close to looking like Emily Ratajkowski in any way, shape or stages of undress. I might have seen a blurred (see what I did there?) image of Pharell.

    EVER.

  29. anne_000 says:

    Since he’s admitted that he falsely took credit for writing the song, let’s see him return the 18-22% royalties.

  30. Chris says:

    He should be distancing himself from the song because it’s misogynistic trash.

  31. Anath Pariah says:

    Someone’s trying to get his fifteen minutes back and doesn’t care what the cost.

  32. Lauraq says:

    Some people might have pointed this out, but just saying…Pharrell also says in the suit that he wrote the song, and Robin indeed was referring to his infidelities when he said he told his wife the truth and she left him. He was referring to the fact that he’s just a dishonest person in general.
    Hard to believe that a year and a few months ago everyone was fawning over him. Even people on this site were claiming he and Paula had an open marriage and that Blurred Lines wasn’t rapey. It’s good to see the tides turning on him.