Outside of the US, the song peaked at number one in Romania and in the top ten of thirteen other national charts including in Australia, Canada, Ireland, and New Zealand.

Its songwriters were honored by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) and Broadcast Music, Inc. (BMI) for their contributions to the song.

The song's music video, directed by Joseph Kahn, is set in a desert and features close-up shots of each member and dance in the rain towards the end.

"I Hate This Part" was conceived during a writing session for British singer Leona Lewis by Wayne Hector, Lucas Secon, Jonas Jeberg, and Mich Hansen in Cutfather Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark.

[5] Scherzinger recorded her vocals at The Boiler Room in Santa Monica, California with the help of Mike "Angry" Eleopoulos, Tal Herzberg and Jeberg with the assistance from Johnathan Merritt.

[1] During the recording process, Scherzinger was vocally inspired by English and American rock singers Sting and Steve Perry.

[12] Commenting on its release strategy, Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine noted that "I Hate This Part" would have made a better follow-up to "When I Grow Up" "dousing [its] campfire with its more adult sound like the way 'Stickwitu' did following 'Don't Cha' in 2005.

[18] The song also features a dubbing drum loops similar to Kylie Minogue's "All I See" (2008) and Jordin Sparks' "One Step at a Time" (2008), which were also produced by Danish production duo Jeberg and Cutfather.

[18] In a review for the Daily Record, Rick Fulton wrote that in "I Hate This Part" the Pussycat Dolls "really step up to those domination wishes".

[28] Sal Cinquemani of Slant Magazine criticized the producers for recycling similar drum loops heard in Minogue's and Sparks' songs, but felt the songwriting in "I Hate this Part" was superior.

[13] Similarly, Spence D. from IGN praised several aspects of the song's production, but labelled certain instrumentation as "earnest" and the vocal performance as forced.

[31] Meanwhile, Hector was recognized for writing "I Hate This Part" by the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) at their annual London awards.

[34] In the United States, "I Hate This Part" debuted at number 11 on the Billboard Hot 100 in December 2008 where it spend a total of 20 weeks on the chart.

[35] On the US Hot Dance Club Songs "I Hate This Part" was the Pussycat Dolls' fourth consecutive number one; it peaked atop for two weeks.

[41] "I Hate This Part" achieved its highest position in Romania peaking at the summit, and achieved top-ten placements in Belgium (Wallonia) [2],[42] the Czech Republic (3),[43] France (3),[44] Hungary (3),[45] Venezuela (4),[46] Belgium (Flanders) [5],[47] Canada (5),[48] Hungary (5),[45] Austria (7),[49] Mexico (8),[50] Bulgaria (9),[51] Ireland (9),[52] Switzerland (9),[53] New Zealand (9),[54] Australia (10),[55] and Slovakia (10).

[23] In comparison to previous music videos, Nick Levine from Digital Spy, felt that "I Hate this Part" "is a less racy affair than usual.

"[64] Similarly, Adam White, who wrote a profile piece on the group for The Daily Telegraph following their 2019 reunion, revisited the music video commenting Scherzinger gets all the "searing close-ups, while the rest of the band gesticulate in the background.

[69] The following week they travelled to Cannes, France and appeared on the 2009 NRJ Music Awards to perform "I Hate This Part" and "When I Grow Up".