Singer Robin Thicke is defending his controversy-causing summer hit "Blurred Lines," calling claims that the song is misogynistic and sexually violent "ridiculous."
The catchy song, also featuring Pharrell Williams and TI, came under fire following it's release when Rape Crisis, a UK-based rape charity spoke out against it, according to US Weekly.
"Both the lyrics and the video seem to objectify and degrade women using misogynistic language and imagery that many people would find not only distasteful or offensive but also really quite old fashioned," Katie Russell, a spokeswoman for the group, told The Independent, a British newspaper. "More disturbingly, certain lyrics are explicitly sexually violent and appear to reinforce victim-blaming rape myths.
"For example...women giving 'mixed signals' through their dress or behavior, saying 'no' when they really mean 'yes' and so on," she wrote.
Thicke spoke out against the claims in an interview with BBC Radio 1.
"I don't want to be sleazy, I'm a gentleman, I've been in love with the same woman since I've been a teenager," he said, referring to his relationship with longtime love and high school sweetheart Paula Patton. "I don't want to do anything inappropriate."
Thicke explained the meaning behind the steamy song.
"For me it's about blurring the lines between men and women and how much we're the same," he said. "And the other side is the blurred lines between a good girl and a bad girl, and even very good girls all have little bad sides to them."
The "Blurred Lines" video, which shows the trio surrounded by half-dressed women, was also criticized for being overly sexual. A version of the video that featured women topless was even pulled from YouTube.
Thicke explained he was initially hesitant to release the more scandalous version, but he had a surprising supporter, his wife.
"My initial response was I love the clothed version, I don't think we should put out the naked version," Thicke said. "And then I showed it to my wife and all of her girlfriends and they said 'You have to put this out, this is so sexy and so cool.'"
Despite the controversy, the tune continues to top Billboard's top 100.
