"Blurred Lines" spent 12 consecutive weeks atop the US Billboard Hot 100, making it the longest-running single of 2013 in the United States.

It became one of the best-selling singles of all time, with sales of 14.8 million, simultaneously breaking the record for the largest radio audience in history.

Williams and Thicke were found liable for copyright infringement by a federal jury in March 2015, and Gaye was awarded posthumous songwriting credit based on the royalties pledged to his estate.

[4][5] Williams first started to play a funk rhythm with syncopated cowbell accents on the drums, along with a simple two-chord progression.

[10] According to Emily Bootle of New Statesman, the song is light-hearted in nature and its musical humor is evident in the "bouncing bassline, tongue-in cheek background yelps, the comically low pitch of the refrain 'I know you want it' and the laughter that follows the lyric 'What rhymes with 'hug me'?'.

[12] Tucker noted that what prevents the song from descending into creepiness is that Thicke remains "gentlemanly and debonair" when the object of his desire rejects him.

"[18] Spin magazine's Keith Harris remarked that the song is "a consensual two-way flirtation, a game both players get to win, with Thicke desperately launching goofball compliments at a woman who paws at him and prances away.

"[21] Andy Hermann for The Village Voice stated that Thicke and Williams tried to ruin the summer of 2013 with their "smug turd of a pop tune" and deemed the song "terrible, tacky, [and] derivative.

He said he couldn't "remember the last time there was a hit song this ghastly – the sound of Adam Sandler taking a falsetto hate-whizz on Marvin Gaye's grave".

"[26] Trevor Anderson of Billboard opined it is "less a recall of a celebrated classic hit, but more a cautionary tale that still divides critics, creatives and consumers alike".

Jim Farber, writing for New York Daily News, called the song "irresistible" and mentioned it had an "utter lack of pretense".

[28] In her review for The Christian Science Monitor, Nekesa Mumbi Moody labeled the song as "undeniable", and wrote that it had become a "cultural flashpoint".

[31] Brendon Veevers for Renowned for Sound remarked the track "really shows off Thicke's vocal dexterity as he bends and blends playfully within 4 minutes of seductive, sexually charged beats and hooks alongside fellow heavyweights T.I and hit-maker Pharrell".

[32] The staff of Rolling Stone place it at number 50 on their 100 Best Songs of 2013, saying "thanks to its lascivious, Pharrell-spun hook, it held the whole world in its slightly skeevy grasp all summer long".

[67] "Blurred Lines" was confirmed to have sold 1 million copies on its 50th day of release, becoming Williams' second song in only a month to achieve that feat in Britain after being featured on Daft Punk single "Get Lucky".

Martel said the hashtags were pretty obvious idea because she thought Robin's last name is strong and supposed it had subconscious connotations.

Martel asked an art director named Georgia Walker to find "gross" and "oversized" props like a hose and stuffed dog.

They thought the lyrics and the video seemed to objectify and degrade women, using "misogynistic language and imagery that many people would find not only distasteful or offensive but also really quite old fashioned."

At the University of Edinburgh, students' association officials stated that the song violates its policy against "rape culture and lad banter" and promotes an unhealthy attitude towards sex and consent.

On October 3, 2021, Ratajkowski published an excerpt from her memoir My Body in the British newspaper The Sunday Times, in which she recounts that she was sexually harassed by Thicke during filming of the music video for "Blurred Lines":[102]"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 video director Diane Martel supported Ratajkowski by stating that she yelled at the singer asking for an explanation and immediately shutting down the shoot, getting a sheepish apology from Thicke, as if he knew it was wrong without understanding how it might have felt for Emily.

sued Marvin Gaye's family and Bridgeport Music for a declaratory judgment that "Blurred Lines" did not infringe copyrights of the defendants.

[107] Within Williams' respective deposition file, the producer noted that he was "in the driver's seat" during the song's creation and agreed that Thicke, in past interviews, "embellished" his contributions to the songwriting process.

[106][108] On October 30, 2014, United States District Court for the Central District of California Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled the Gaye family's lawsuit against Thicke and Williams could proceed, stating the plaintiffs "have made a sufficient showing that elements of 'Blurred Lines' may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of 'Got to Give It Up'."

[115][116] A few days later, more than 200 musicians – including Rivers Cuomo of Weezer, John Oates of Hall & Oates, R. Kelly, Hans Zimmer, Jennifer Hudson as well as members of Train, Earth, Wind & Fire, the Black Crowes, Fall Out Boy, the Go-Go's and Tears for Fears – filed an amicus curiae brief, authored by attorney Ed McPherson, in support of the appeal, stating that "the verdict in this case threatens to punish songwriters for creating new music that is inspired by prior works.

[121][122] The plaintiffs cited a GQ interview from November of that same year in which Williams said he "reverse engineered" "Got to Give It Up",[123] saying that it countered his statement during a deposition that he "did not go in the studio with the intention of making anything feel like, or to sound like, Marvin Gaye.

[132] Thicke also performed the song complete with dancers in studio on The Howard Stern Show on Sirius XM Radio on July 29, 2013.

[148] Writing for the American news program Today, Anna Chan called the performance "embarrassingly raunchy",[149] while Katy Kroll of Rolling Stone labeled it a "hot mess".

[150] The performance was described by XXL critic B. J. Steiner as a "trainwreck in the classic sense of the word as the audience reaction seemed to be a mix of confusion, dismay and horror in a cocktail of embarrassment".

[151] Louisa Peacock and Isabelle Kerr of Telegraph described Cyrus' actions as her going into "overdrive [...] trying to kill off her Disney millstone, Hannah Montana.