Robin Thicke has stayed quiet since a jury ruled against him and Pharrell Williams in the plagiarism case over their monster 2013 hit “Blurred Lines.” However, he finally commented on it in a new interview with the New York Times.
Thicke and Williams were accused of ripping off the Marvin Gaye song “Got To Give It Up” without crediting the late music legend. They lost the case and were ordered to pay the Gaye family nearly $7.4 million.
Thicke told The Times that the verdict was surprising. “Obviously, that’s why we’re appealing,” the singer said. “I know the difference between inspiration and theft. I’m constantly inspired, but I would never steal. And neither would Pharrell.”
When asked if he stood by his testimony and deposition - in which he admitted to being drunk during 2013 interviews and lying about how involved he was in the song’s creation - he admitted he was careless. Thicke was just going through his divorce from Paula Patton at the time and that was on his mind.
“My personal issues were all that mattered to me at the time. That’s why I use the word ‘careless’ to describe my attitude at the time,” Thicke explained. “Obviously, I didn’t give my all to the trial. It simply wasn’t as important to me as what was going on in my personal life. I was lost at the time. I had lost my way.”
Thicke also told the Times that the verdict will not change his process at all, although he did admit that his team has been careful to make sure to get the writing credits right on his new material.
Lastly, Thicke claimed that he was just making a bad joke when he told GQ that he liked to degrade women.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com