Pharrell Williams’ ‘Piece By Piece’ LEGO Biopic: Director Explains the Absence of ‘Blurred Lines’

Morgan Neville, director of Pharrell Williams’ LEGO biopic Piece By Piece, has shared why the film excludes the hit song Blurred Lines. The animated comedy features Pharrell portraying a LEGO version of himself, joined by prominent collaborators including Gwen Stefani, Kendrick Lamar, Timbaland, Justin Timberlake, Snoop Dogg, and Busta Rhymes.

The film is described as a journey through the evolution of one of music’s most innovative minds, brought to life with LEGO animation and boundless creativity.

In a recent interview with the BBC, Morgan Neville, director of Pharrell Williams’ Piece By Piece LEGO biopic, explained why the film doesn’t include Blurred Lines, the controversial 2013 hit by Robin Thicke, T.I., and Pharrell. Neville revealed that while he considered addressing the controversy surrounding the song, he ultimately decided it didn’t fit within the narrative he aimed to create for the film.

He explained that he had even interviewed Robin Thicke for the project and had a strong interest in copyright law, which is a topic he finds fascinating as a documentary filmmaker. However, when attempting to incorporate a scene about the legal battles over Blurred Lines, it felt out of place within the context of the film.

Neville shared his perspective on the lawsuit, stating that he believes the ruling was one of the worst judicial decisions regarding creativity in history. He expressed his belief that Pharrell was in the right and that most creatives would agree with him. Ultimately, Neville decided to exclude the song and its legal controversy from the film because he felt it didn’t contribute to Pharrell’s personal story in a meaningful way.

Neville explained that he was looking for moments in Pharrell’s journey where he learned something significant, but felt that the Blurred Lines case didn’t lead to any major change in Pharrell’s outlook.

In 2015, Pharrell Williams, Robin Thicke, and T.I. lost a lawsuit filed by the estate of Marvin Gaye, which accused them of copying Gaye’s 1977 hit Got To Give It Up for their track Blurred Lines. The court ruled that the three musicians had infringed on Gaye’s copyright, ordering them to pay half of the song’s royalties to Gaye’s family, along with a one-time payment of £4 million ($5.3 million) in damages. An appeal was filed but was rejected in 2018.

In December 2019, Gaye’s family reopened the case, accusing Williams of lying under oath during the trial. This claim was based on an interview Williams had with Rick Rubin for GQ, in which he stated that he had “reverse-engineered” Got To Give It Up. Gaye’s family cited this interview as evidence of perjury. However, in February 2021, US District Court Judge John Kronstadt ruled that Williams had not committed perjury.

Blurred Lines also became a subject of significant controversy due to accusations that its lyrics and music video trivialized s**ual violence and objectified women. Katie Russell, a spokeswoman for R**e Crisis, a charity that raises awareness about s**ual violence, commented that the song’s lyrics appeared to glamorize violence against women and reinforced harmful r**e myths. She explained that the lyrics and video seemed to degrade women, using language and imagery that many would find offensive and outdated. More disturbingly, she noted that certain lyrics suggested victim-blaming and reinforced myths, such as the idea that women give “mixed signals” or say “no” when they actually mean “yes.”

As a result, over 20 UK universities banned the song from being played at student events, and the music video, which featured models dancing in their underwear alongside the musicians, was removed from YouTube.

Model Emily Ratajkowski, who appeared in the video, later recalled in an excerpt from her book My Body how she was allegedly s**ually harassed by Thicke during the shoot. Diane Martel, the music video’s director, supported Ratajkowski’s account, revealing that she had confronted Thicke on set, demanded an explanation, and immediately stopped the shoot.

—Silviya.Y