Robin Thicke says he can’t be blamed for “Blurred Lines” because he was high
Representing the only complex thing about it, “Blurred Lines” has long been the subject of a confusing legal tangle between its principal songwriters, Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams, and the estate of Marvin Gaye. After Gaye’s family threatened legal action, claiming that “Blurred Lines” borrowed heavily from the late singer’s “Got To Give It Up,” representatives for Thicke et al. preemptively sued Gaye’s family; the latter quickly returned the favor with a cross-complaint. In April, that argument played out in depositions that The Hollywood Reporter recently acquired, making one more thing about Thicke’s life uncomfortably public.
Much of the Gaye estate’s claim is built on statements Thicke made to the press about his influence—in particular, an interview he gave to GQ, where he said, “One of my favorite songs of all time was Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up.’ I was like, ‘Damn, we should make something like that.” But according to Thicke’s deposition, you shouldn’t take anything he said or did seriously, because he was super high all the time.
“With all due respect, I was high and drunk every time I did an interview last year,” Thicke said, explaining that he often lies when discussing his music as a means of personal gain, whether it’s to sell records or make himself look more important. But, he swears, he’s certainly being honest now, during this testimony regarding possible plagiarism, when he insists that Pharrell was really the one who wrote the song. Like a good girl, he was just sort of there to be used.
Q: Were you present during the creation of ‘Blurred Lines’?