Emily Ratajkowski
NEW YORK, NY – JULY 09: Emily Ratajkowski seen on the streets of Manhattan on July 9, 2019 in New York City. (Photo by James Devaney/GC Images)

In 2013, Robin Thicke’s music video “Blurred Lines” catapulted Emily Ratajkowski to worldwide fame. Just mere years later and in the wake of the #MeToo movement, the hit single aged poorly and proved to be extremely problematic. And it stems deeper than the lyrics. In an excerpt published by The Sunday Times from the model’s forthcoming memoir, My Body, she described the moment the singer groped her on set.

“Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger’s hands cupping my bare breasts from behind,” Ratajkowski wrote. “I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke.”

In response to the allegations, she told People of the reasons in not speaking out sooner. “I was an unknown model and if I had spoken out or complained, I would not be where I am today; I would not be famous.”

Further in the excerpt she reveals that the video director had witnessed the incident. “He smiled a goofy grin and stumbled backward, his eyes concealed behind his sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set. [The director, Diane Martel’s] voice cracked as she yelled out to me, ‘Are you okay?’ ” she added.

Martel confirmed the allegations to The Sunday Times. “What the f— are you doing, that’s it!! The shoot is over!!'” she recalled, adding: “Robin sheepishly apologised. As if he knew it was wrong without understanding how it might have felt for Emily.”

Emily Ratajkowski
MILAN, ITALY – SEPTEMBER 24: Emily Ratajkowski walks the runway during the Versace Ready to Wear Spring/Summer 2022 fashion show as part of the Milan Fashion Week on September 24, 2021 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Victor VIRGILE/Gamma-Rapho via Getty Images)

The 30-year-old will release her memoir from November 9. It comes after she published an essay in The Cut in 2019 detailing the abuse and legalities of not owning your own body through media.

“Since 2013, when I appeared in a viral music video, paparazzi have lurked outside my front door,” she wrote at the time. “I’ve become accustomed to large men appearing suddenly between cars or jumping out from behind corners, with glassy black holes where their faces should be.”