Why Emily Ratajkowski stayed silent about Robin Thicke groping for so long

Emily Ratajkowski claims she was sexually assaulted by Canadian musician, Robin Thicke, during the filming of the music video for his hit song Blurred Lines. Photo / YouTube

Earlier this week supermodel Emily Ratajkowski made headlines when she shared the story of being sexually assaulted by Canadian musician Robin Thicke during the filming of the music video for his hit song Blurred Lines.

Ratajkowski dropped the bombshell in her upcoming book My Body, set to be released next month. In the book the 30-year-old model and actress revealed that: "Suddenly, out of nowhere, I felt the coolness and foreignness of a stranger's hands cupping my bare breasts from behind. I instinctively moved away, looking back at Robin Thicke."

The song in question was a chart-busting success for Thicke and his collaborator, Pharrell Williams back in 2013. So why, all these years later is the sexual assault coming to light?

Ratajkowski has revealed to People that she knew if she came forward at the time about the assault, it would destroy her burgeoning career.

"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," Ratajkowski, revealed to People magazine at the CoinGeek Conference cocktail party.

Ratajkowski now feels that she has evolved to a point where she is able to sit with and talk about the alleged assault by Thicke and hopes her fans will understand.

"I wrote a book about the evolution of my politics, and that includes a lot of different experiences from my career and my life, and the way that I felt and thought about those experiences [has] evolved," she told People. "I hope people are able to read the essay and understand the nuance behind these kinds of situations."

In the Blurred Lines video, Ratajkowski is one of three models who are seen dancing around Thicke. The video also stars rapper TI and singer Pharrell Williams. In it Ratajkowski is topless, with only flesh coloured briefs on. It seems that appearing in the video in such skimpy attire gave the model reservations from the start. She told UK's InStyle magazine in 2015: "I wasn't into the idea at all at first. I think I came off as a bit annoyed in the video.

"Now, it's the bane of my existence. When anyone comes up to me about Blurred Lines, I'm like, 'Are we seriously talking about a video from three years ago?'"

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Ratajkowski reveals in her book of essays that she did warm up and start enjoying the video shoot, until Thicke, who was apparently intoxicated, began to "behave badly".

"He smiled a goofy grin and stumbled backward, his eyes concealed behind his sunglasses. My head turned to the darkness beyond the set. (Director Diane Martel's) voice cracked as she yelled out to me, 'Are you okay?,'" the book states.

The experience made her feel "naked for the first time that day", she said.