Thicke a bit blurred during testimony
LOS ANGELES Footage of Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams testifying about the creation of the song Blurred Lines that was a key element of a copyright infringement trial earlier this year has been released, showing Thicke repeatedly acknowledging he was drunk and high during interviews promoting 2013’s biggest hit song.
Both men are seen on the footage, which was released Monday, verbally sparring with a lawyer for Marvin Gaye’s children, who sued the men for copyright infringement and won a $7.4-million verdict in March.
The testimony includes Thicke responding “No” when asked if he considered himself an honest man and Williams refusing to read music for the lawyer and telling him, “I’m not here to teach you music.”
While many of the statements Williams and Thicke made during their 2014 depositions were reported during the trial, video of the men testifying has been unavailable. The copyright infringement trial was not video recorded.
U.S. district judge John A. Kronstadt ordered the footage released earlier this month, writing that it had been kept under seal to prevent it from influencing potential jurors in the case. The footage, which includes only portions of the deposition played during trial, was filed last week but not publicly released by the court until Monday.
The verdict, which Kronstadt later cut to $5.3 million, is being appealed.
Gaye’s heirs claimed Blurred Lines copied their father’s hit, Got to Give It Up, although lawyers for Thicke and Williams said the newer song merely mimicked the feel of Gaye’s music and didn’t copy it.
“The deposition testimony of the witnesses from the trial is old news,” Howard King, a lawyer for Williams and Thicke, wrote in an email. “The songs are still different and we look forward to complete vindication on appeal.”
The testimony reflected poorly on Thicke, who scored the biggest hit of his career with Blurred Lines and was forced to admit under oath he didn’t have anything to do with the song’s creation, and he was drunk and high while promoting it.