The Masked Singer judge Robin Thicke was heavily featured in the show’s most recent episode, despite Emily Ratajkowski’s public allegations that he sexually assaulted her. Notably, the show is pre-taped, so it was likely already finished at the time the claims came out, but there appeared to be little to no attempt to edit out Thicke. At this time, it is unknown if the allegations will impact Thicke’s status as a judge on the show.
One of Ratajkowski’s first big moments of fame was when she appeared in Thicke’s music video for “Blurred Lines,” which featured her and another model dancing nude around the singer. This is also when the supermodel-turned-actress claims that Thicke violated her. Earlier this week, an excerpt from Ratajkowski’s forthcoming book, My Body, was shared by media outlets, and in it she recalls the alleged incident. “Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger’s hands cupping my bare breasts from behind,” Ratajkowski wrote in a portion of the book, which was obtained by London’s the Sunday Times. “I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke.”
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She continued, “He smiled a goofy grin and stumbled backward, his eyes concealed behind sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set.” The Sunday Times spoke with the “Blurred Lines” director, Diane Martel, who corroborated Ratajkowski’s story. “I remember the moment that he grabbed her breasts,” the longtime music video director stated. “One in each hand. He was standing behind her as they were both in profile.”
Writing about what happened following the alleged incident, Ratajkowski shared, “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 like I should have.” Martel added that she “screamed” at Thicke, prompting him to “sheepishly” apologize “as if he knew it was wrong without understanding how it might have felt for” Ratajkowski. “What the f— are you doing, that’s it!!” Martel said she yelled at Thicke. “The shoot is over!!”
Notably, “Blurred Lines” has been the subject of much controversy and debate since it debuted. Many have argued that it promotes and perpetuates rape culture. Thicke defended the song in an Apple Music interview earlier this year, saying, “I never saw it that way when I sang it or performed it. [T]he crowd goes crazy. … Even people who aren’t big fans of mine, that’s the only [song] they know.” At this time, Thicke does not appear to have responded to Ratajkowski’s assault allegations.
