Robin Thicke Admits Drug Abuse, Lying to Media in Wild "Blurred Lines" Deposition

[TwistedElegance™]

There's a lot to read here, but it's juicy af.

Interrogated for allegedly ripping off Marvin Gaye, the singer attempts a rock 'n' roll defense: "I didn't do a single interview last year without being high"

"Blurred Lines," the pop hit that quickly became one of the most fascinating and controversial songs of the young century, has now spawned even more to discuss thanks to the appearance of absolutely bizarre depositions given by the song's singer, Robin Thicke, and producer Pharrell Williams. The sworn testimony, revealed for the first time in a Los Angeles federal court on Monday, covers such subjects as authorship, song credit, drug abuse and media promotion, and almost certainly will change perceptions of a hit recording that was dubbed last year's Song of the Summer.

When "Blurred Lines" was released in March 2013, the catchy harmony became a cultural phenomenon, but since then, there's been substantial reassessment of what the song is all about. In some corners of the public, "Blurred Lines," with lyrics that include "Good girl, I know you want it," has been attacked as "kind of rapey." And in the past few months, Thicke has had to endure accusations of misogyny.

Then there's the lawsuit filed by Thicke, Williams and song co-writer Clifford "T.I." Harris Jr. in an effort to protect "Blurred Lines" against claims of being a rip-off. They're facing off against the children of Marvin Gaye, who in a cross-complaint accuse the plaintiffs of making an unauthorized derivative of their father's 1977 classic "Got to Give It Up."

Last week, Gaye's family filed summary motion papers and also lodged an audio mash-up of the two songs in an effort to win the case. A good portion of the court documents were designated as confidential, but after some back-and-forth between the parties, a judge has ordered that transcripts of the celebrities' depositions shouldn't be sealed. The Hollywood Reporter has obtained copies of the sensational testimony.

Thicke and Williams gave their depositions this past April, and they were both incredibly hostile.

For example, when Richard Busch, attorney for the Gayes, attempted to play the mash-up for Thicke to hear, the singer begged him to stop. "It's so hard to listen to it," said Thicke, referencing a clash between major and minor chords. "It's like nails on a f—ing chalkboard. … This is [like] Stanley Kubrick's movie Clockwork Orange. Where he has to sit there and watch … Mozart would be rolling in his grave right now."

The deposition turns even more strange once Thicke is forced to explain his many statements to the media about how Gaye has inspired him. For example, he once told GQ magazine, "Pharrell and I were in the studio and I told him that 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, something with that groove.' Then he started playing a little something and we literally wrote the song in about a half hour and recorded it."

But that's not actually what happened, Thicke now admits.

The singer 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.

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/robin-thicke-admits-drug-abuse-732783?mobile_redirect=false

MESS.

[TwistedElegance™]

About Pharrell's deposition:

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.

The producer is evasive in other ways. Asked whether Marvin Gaye has influenced him, Williams says, "He's an Aries. I respect him."

Williams says he didn't go into the studio with the intention of making anything sound like Gaye. He takes the attorneys through his creative process and why the session on "Blurred Lines" was a bit different.

"When I work with a person, I think about three things," he says. "I think about the energy that they're coming with, but this wasn't the case because [Thicke] wasn't there yet. But usually, I think about the energy and what they come in with, like what's on their mind, you know, argument with a girlfriend, email with the husband, politics, state of the world. People walk in with vibes. They walk in with feelings. This was not one of those days."

The producer says he was in the "driver's seat" on this particular song, but does give Thicke some credit in a rather interesting section that seems to imply that white people are victims and beneficiaries of racial discrimination in the music business:

"Q: In your view, what holds 'Blurred Lines' together throughout the different sections?

Williams: What holds it together?

Q: Yeah.

Williams: Robin Thicke's voice.

Q: Does the bass line and the keyboard hold the songs together through the different sections?

Williams: No.

Q: Why not?

Williams: Because it's the white man singing soulfully and we, unfortunately, in this country don't get enough — we don't get to hear that as often, so we get excited by it when the mainstream gives that a shot. But there's a lot of incredibly talented white folk with really soulful vocals, so when we're able to give them a shot — and when I say 'we,' I mean like as in the public gives them a shot to be heard, then you hear the Justin Timberlakes and you hear the Christina Aguileras and you hear, you know, all of these masterful voices that have just been given, you know, an opportunity to be heard because they're doing something different."

Williams then adds that if he had sung the song, "It wouldn't be what it was — what it is today."

He admits, though, it's his song. Asked whose creation were the "Blurred Lines" words, he answers, "Mine."

[Reyna ♔]

Robin's answer irks me, but there's something to Pharrell's that I like.

[jarrylf]

Yea he pretty much owned up to that Pharell did most of the writting, and that he & Pharell both came up with "Hey-Hey-Hey", and he's owned up to he likes to be on substances in terms of being in the studio, so that's not too surprising, what is surprising is how very little credit he's giving himself, might be a ploy to if the case is guilty his team thinks he'd pay less than Pharell if they had to pay.But yea it came out a while ago that other artists wanted BL and he shopped it around a bit, but he liked what Robin did with it most.

 

 

I can completely understand where Pharrell is coming from with his answer too

[TwistedElegance™]

I'm kind of appalled at both of them tbh. Robin wanted the credit when it was the biggest song in the world, now that it's the subject of plagiarism he's giving all the credit to Pharrell.

And I'm really surprised that Pharrell can't read music.

[jarrylf]

Yea I don't quite buy Pharell can't read music, but I could see it, theres alot of producers who can't, but for some reason with the different types of genres and styles Pharell does I would think he could.

[TwistedElegance™]

Yea he pretty much owned up to that Pharell did most of the writting, and that he & Pharell both came up with "Hey-Hey-Hey", and he's owned up to he likes to be on substances in terms of being in the studio, so that's not too surprising, what is surprising is how very little credit he's giving himself, might be a ploy to if the case is guilty his team thinks he'd pay less than Pharell if they had to pay.But yea it came out a while ago that other artists wanted BL and he shopped it around a bit, but he liked what Robin did with it most.

I can completely understand where Pharrell is coming from with his answer too

But their lawyer clocks that.

Q: Whose creation were the words "Blurred Lines?"

Williams: Mine.

Q: Whose creation were the words "Good Girl?"

Williams: Mine.

Q: Whose creation was the words "Hey Hey Hey" in groups of three?

Williams: Mine.

Pharrell's deposition is an utter mess. He says "I'm not comfortable" like 15 times when asked to read the music.

[jarrylf]

OOP, welp there we go, but alas at least he's admitted before that Pharrell shopped it around (he & Pharrell have both admitted that before). 

 

Hell real talk this whole thing on their end is a mess, they're lawyers or whoever came up with the idea of suing the family before they can sue them was stupid and makes them look stupid, they didn't steal the song, or even sample it (it's been proven thus far) but the moves they've been making since this all went to court makes them look ridiculously guilty.

[JoeJoe]

nobody cares anymore. Blurred Lines was a smash and everybody's over it now. I don't think anyone cares about the legal issues they're going through. Robin lied about the song being his. Beyonce did it before too

[T.C]

Least Robin is honest enough to admit he barely writes. Some other big artists out there should follow suit

[jarrylf]

Least Robin is honest enough to admit he barely writes. Some other big artists out there should follow suit

Seeing as how he's had a noted career for songwriting since 94 I do think this is a situation he probably wasn't in that much, I'd guess with collabs or when songs were presented he did that method, but yea I give him points for outting that (even before he necessarily had to like he did here).

[bu.]

He's so lame

[hotboy06]

Wow.  When I first heard the song, I immediately thought of Marvin Gaye..and I love how Pharell likes to sample old school songs and rhythms..

 

I don't know much about the legality of the issue, but the song is definitely a rip off of Marvin Gaye's song.

[janetDAYZ]

He's so lame

[aed05]

Least Robin is honest enough to admit he barely writes. Some other big artists out there should follow suit

 

He was a noted songwriter before he ever signed a record deal. He wrote for brandy on like her first album and that was 94. His mother is also a songwriter and singer. So to say he barely writes is just not true. He should have never lied about writing blurred lines though. Even though it was his biggest hit, it has really become a thorn in his side.

[jarrylf]

He was a noted songwriter before he ever signed a record deal. He wrote for brandy on like her first album and that was 94. His mother is also a songwriter and singer. So to say he barely writes is just not true. He should have never lied about writing blurred lines though. Even though it was his biggest hit, it has really become a thorn in his side.

Yea it's a pretty big double edged sword.

[trackboy]

I'm kind of appalled at both of them tbh. Robin wanted the credit when it was the biggest song in the world, now that it's the subject of plagiarism he's giving all the credit to Pharrell.

And I'm really surprised that Pharrell can't read music.

 

Really? It's not like he went to music school or anything. 

[TwistedElegance™]

Really? It's not like he went to music school or anything.

No, but he played keyboard in his school band and that means you can't avoid sheet music like you can with percussion. Plus, he composed the Oscars' score alongside Hans Zimmer a couple of years ago. That's surprising to me.

[Bailey]

^that surprises me too.....but I think with technology someone with a talented ear for beats and harmonies could make music without actually knowing a single note sheet, that does take some cred away from him though....as for Robin, I think his defense is classic really.....ignorance