Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” (feat. T.I. and Pharrell Williams) has been the runaway hit of the summer, with no small thanks to its controversial NSFW video that was yanked off of YouTube. The original video, now only available on Vevo, features Thicke, T.I. and Williams dancing around in suits flanked by three topless models. In this exclusive oral history, Mandatory.com takes you behind the scenes for how the viral hit of the summer came together.
Diane Martel, director: I was thinking to myself about concepts for the video and wanted to answer one simple question: what do people like to look at? Then it hit me. Boobs.
Robin Thicke, singer: I was on board from the get go. Especially after I heard there were going to be boobs.
T.I., rapper: When they asked me if I wanted to be in the video, I thought the song was too cheesy for me. Then I was informed about the boobs. I called my agent immediately.
Pharrell Williams, producer: I contribute to a lot of hit songs so I was on the fence about the video shoot. But I’m never too busy for topless models.
Emily Ratajkowski, model: I went in to the audition and they asked me if they could see my boobs. One “Yes” later and I’m an Internet sensation.
Jessi M’Bengue, model: Once I saw the first girl was willing to take her shirt off, I couldn’t tear mine off fast enough.
Elle Evans, model: Do you have any idea how competitive the modeling world is? I started taking my pants off before they told me to stop.
Martel: What you have to understand is that I wanted to stress how powerful the female form can be. And I wanted to stress that power with boobs.
Williams: It was a very collaborative shoot. All three of the guys made a ton of suggestions.
T.I.: Each of those suggestions was, “More boobs.”
