Last week, Robin Thicke's soul-heavy, R&B-soaked "Blurred Lines," became his first No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100. But some critics are looking more closely at the lyrics and the now banned video for the song.

To them, it seems more than a little icky that America is currently rocking out to an anthem about the blurred lines between what a mostly naked lady says about sex and what she actually wants.

The naked ladies in question here are Emily Ratajkowski, Jessi M’Bengue and Elle Evans, models whose boobs are on full display throughout the unrated version of the video.

As The Daily Beast points out in a piece asking if the song is too "rapey," it's a little odd that Thicke and his collaborators, T.I. and Pharrell, get to wear pants, shirts and even jackets while the objects of their desire (key word: "objects") dance around with farm animals wearing nothing but flesh-toned thongs.

And sure, maybe we're desensitized to onscreen female nudity in situations where men remain clothed. But check out the lyrics:

"I know you want it / You're a good girl / Can't let it get past me," Thicke croons. "I know you want it / But you're a good girl / The way you grab me / Must wanna get nasty."

So basically, you "must wanna" have sex with Robin Thicke, you're just not saying so?

The tune gets nastier as it goes on, courtesy of a graphic Ying-Yang Twins-esque verse from T.I. and more lots of lines about how Thicke hates "these blurred lines" and knows "you want it."

"Basically, the majority of the song (creepily named 'Blurred Lines') has the R&B singer murmuring 'I know you want it' over and over into a girl's ear," gripes blogger Lisa Huyne, via The Daily Beast. "Call me a cynic, but that phrase does not exactly encompass the notion of consent in sexual activity … Seriously, this song is disgusting — though admittedly very catchy."

When Thicke posted the unrated, nudity-filled version of the video on his Facebook page, he was greeted with a storm of negative comments, mostly from users with female names.

Comments ranged from calling the video "a waste of energy and talent" to "[it's] disgracing ... to use naked models" to "Robin, you're an intelligent man, I believe you can do way better."

Another user, meanwhile, tried to stick up for Thicke, writing, "all you plastic pseudo feminists moaning about the nudity of the women in this video seem to have missed the fact that they look like they actually really enjoyed themselves."

Yikes.

Still, some critics are shrugging their shoulders on the implications of both the words and video.

Dusting off his SAT word skills, a male writer at the Village Voice referred to the whole thing as "frolicsome ribaldry."

And former Idolator writer Maura Johnston has reportedly said that because Robin Thicke isn't threatening -- and because the topless model-version of the video is a tried and true a PR stunt -- Thicke gets a pass here.

As for Thicke's own rationale, he told VH1 that the controversy was all part of the fun.

"We pretty much wanted to take all the taboos of what you're not supposed to do," he explained, "... bestiality, you know, injecting a girl in her bum with a five-foot syringe — I just wanted to break every rule of things you're not supposed to do and make people realize how silly some of these rules are."





 

Just how far will Selena Gomez go to shed her wholesome Disney image? In recent weeks, the sometime flame of Justin Bieber has writhed suggestively in a sexy video and released a double entendre-laden single. But is she also planning to bare all on the big screen? So says Hollywood Life, which claims the starlet, 20, "isn't opposed to taking her clothes off in front of the camera."

"Now that Selena is growing up to be a more serious actress and separating herself from her Disney past, she has no problem going topless if the role calls for it," alleges a source. "Without a doubt, Selena would go topless in a film if the role was right."

But such willingness to get naked is news to a Gomez insider, who assures Pop Spy that there's "no truth to the report."

But the source does point out that Selena, who has taken on daring roles in the recently released "Spring Breakers" and the forthcoming "Taken"-meets-"Drive​" flick "Getaway," has proven that she's "following a different path than most Disney stars in the past."

That's certainly true enough. Watch Selena wield a gun opposite the summer's hottest leading man, Ethan Hawke, in the new trailer for "Getaway" …

 

Empowerment ideals + Taylor Swift lyrics + the wit of a snarky college kid = Twitter gold.

For the past week, the Twitter account FeministTaylor Swift has been busting out a stream of amazing riffs on Tay Tay's lyrics of love and heartbreak, as seen through a feminist filter. The tweets are so hilarious that the account has already amassed more than 74,000 followers, many of whom are retweeting and replying to the words of a gal whose bio describes her as "Happy. Free. Confused. Oppressed by the patriarchy. At the same time."

The results vary from deeper perspectives on "You Belong With Me" ...



... to "Mean" re-imagined as a safeguard for women's health issues:

... to a musical homage to great female justices:

The mastermind behind the womyn-centric Swiftiness is Clara Beyer, a soon-to-be senior at Brown University. Beyer also writes the blog That Girl Magazine, which touts itself as "your guide to surviving haters, disregarding haters, eating ramen and doing your thing."

"I consider myself a feminist and I blog about that kind of thing all the time," Beyer told Buzzfeed in an email last week. "Being a feminist Taylor Swift fan isn't always easy but it led to @FeministTSwift, so I'm not really complaining."

Um, neither are we.

Check out FeministTaylorSwift in all her male privilege-fighting, sexual freedom-seeking, patriarchal B.S.-eschewing glory on Twitter, where even John Mayer-inspired lyrics can be all about girl power.
 

In today's edition of the Charlie Sheen feud watch, he's apparently moved on from insulting "Teen Mom"-turned-backdoor​ porn purveyor Farrah Abraham and turned his wrath on his "Anger Management" co-star, Selma Blair. TMZ says the mostly feral, tiger-blood-drinking​ star is in an "all-out war" with the actress and is telling people that he's had her fired from the FX sitcom.

 

The reason he's on the warpath?

 

Blair supposedly griped to the "Anger Management" powers-that-be about Sheen's "shoddy work ethic" and frequent tardiness, alleging he's a "menace to work with."

 

Word is, he found out about her kvetching and "felt Selma was out of line considering he's the star of the show," says TMZ. "And he specifically referenced himself learning 40 pages of lines per episode compared to her 2."

 

That said, Selma's role sometimes requires her to get romantic with Charlie, so she has her own cross to bear.

Sheen now apparently refuses to film with her, and instead wants to replace her with Mila Kunis, proposing a staggering $1 million per episode offer for 10-show story arc. Mila, of course, is the girlfriend of Ashton Kutcher, who was tapped to replace Sheen on "Two and a Half Men."

 

According to TMZ, execs at FX hope that the animosity will "all blow over," even though Charlie has asked the network to "support him in his decision."

 

The pair play therapists on the show. Here they are trying to get it on, and maybe it's just us, but their chemistry has all the heat of an ice-cold shower …

 

Oh, Miss Utah. We know it was nerve-wracking standing between Giuliana Rancic and Nick Jonas as NeNe Leakes lobbed you a tough question at the Miss USA pageant on Sunday night. We get it: The star power represented all around you was positively blinding. Add in the fact that NBC was broadcasting the show live, and it's understandable that your cognitive abilities would suddenly shrink to the size of a pimple on an ant's butt. But we weren't quite prepared for the verbal nonsense you spewed forth.

If you have a low tolerance for second-hand embarrassment and couldn't bear to watch, here's how it went down. NeNe asked Miss Utah, AKA Marissa Powell, the following: "A recent report shows that in 40 percent of American families with children, women are the primary earners, yet they continue to earn less than men. What does this say about society?"

 

Marissa seems fine as she begins to answer: "I think you can relay this back to education and how we are continuing to try to strive to …"

 

Then comes a pregnant pause, despite Powell's experience in front of a live audience (on her official bio, the aspiring model-singer-actress​ boasts about belting out the national anthem for 10,000 people and regularly performing with her band, Geniveve).

 

Unfortunately, she managed to continue speaking: "… figure out how to create jobs right now. That is the biggest problem, and I think especially for men are seen as the leaders of this so we need to try to figure out how to create education better, so that we can solve this problem. Thank you."

 

No, thank you, Miss Utah. No, you didn't win (third runner-up ain't bad, though), and yes, you put the phrase "create education better" into circulation. But, hey, you did walk away with the Miss Photogenic USA Award, a prize given to the delegate who "exemplifies beauty through the lens of a camera." Just presumably not through flapping her gums at it.

 

Still, let's try to put Marissa's slip of the tongue into perspective. Who can forget Miss Teen USA South Carolina 2007? Cringe then cringe again as you rewatch Caitlin Upton attempt to explain why so few Americans can locate the U.S. on a world map (a sampling: "I believe that our, I, education like such as, uh, South Africa and, uh, the Iraq, everywhere like such as, and I believe that they should, our education over here in the U.S. should help the U.S.")

 

We can just imagine that light-bulb moment at TLC when producers were trying to come up with a way of making "Here Comes Honey Boo Boo" even more like a John Waters movie. "Hey, you guys! What about watch 'n' sniff episodes?" Stop gagging; it's going to happen. People and Us Weekly mags will have scratch-and-sniff card inserts that let you watch HBB and the gang in odorama. So the next time Uncle Poodle gets his head stuck in a pumpkin, you'll sorta be there!

More news . . .
Rehab-hopping Lindsay Lohan has a 'disruptive' behavior problem?

Video: Ali Lohan models for Relapse magazine (no joke)

Uncle Jessie and Aunt Becky from 'Full House' almost had a thing goin' on

Charlie Sheen doesn't want to hang out with 'Teen Mom' Farrah Abraham

Gene Wilder is bitter about 2005's 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'

Video: Fashion fails of the week

Dad hobnobs with Superman: Russell Crowe's kids make the 'not impressed' face

In case you've ever wondered where Fat Albert got his 'Hey, hey, hey' from, Bill Cosby explains it all


 

As reported on every far-flung corner of the Internet today, Kanye West's new album, "Yeezus" has arrived ahead of its June 18 release date, courtesy of web leakage (which, by the way, only sounds half as gross as some of the visuals he unleashes in the much-tweeted lyrics).

Well, it turns out your weekend of Yeezy overload won't be limited to arguing with friends about whether lines like "when I park my Range Rover / slightly scratch your Corolla / OK I smash your Corolla" are technically rhyming couplets, or how Deepak Chopra feels about his "Hold My Liquor" shout-out or why it's taking so long for Kanye to get those "damn croissants."

A peek at the map on Kanye's website tipped off the cartographers over at Pitchfork that another torrent of audio-visual projections featuring new material from "Yeezus" is headed to Europe this weekend. Music-backed video installations will be visible on buildings in cities including Dublin, Copenhagen, Berlin, Amsterdam, London, Brussels, Paris and Antwerp over the next few days.

In May, similar projections appeared in Brooklyn and a handful of other spots, offering previews of the track, "New Slaves" Frank Ocean collaboration. But they didn't all go off without a hitch. The Houston Chronicle reported that police interrupted and eventually put the kibosh on H-town's scheduled projection. It seems the fuzz didn't appreciate Yeezy's attempt to enhance the exterior of the historic Rothko Chapel, which is apparently private property.

Anyway, if the "awesome truth and awesomeness" Kanye spoke of in his recent New York Times profile is just too much for you to face on the side of a building in Antwerp, you can always make do with this video of the Brooklyn installation -- then get back to tweeting out your favorite "Yeezus" lyrics. Pass the croissants.

 

Miley Cyrus never seems to lack confidence, and that admirable quality is on display in her new cover story with Billboard. In a wide-ranging interview about her forthcoming album, the peroxide-topped popster, 20, discusses growing up, going out and gaining control. In between, the mag calls her "utterly professional," and says she manages to charm everyone around her with "equal parts humor and chutzpah." Here are some highlights:

On how hard she's labored on her new album and how it's changed her:

"I never stop working, ever -- I put my track list together this morning. I want my record to be the biggest record in the world, and I've given everything to get here, even down to friends and family and relationships -- I've just put this music first. That's been kind of a trip: It's not like I'm losing who I am -- I actually found out more about who I am by making this music. I'm going on a journey, and that's more than a lot of 20-year-olds can say. And I'm still going to change so much. Because I'm not the same person I was six months ago -- I'm not even the same person I was two weeks ago."

On Miley being Miley:

"A lot of people wanted to try to make me the white Nicki Minaj. That's not what I'm trying to do. I love 'hood' music, but my talent is as a singer."

On the criticisms leveled at her new party-fueled, drug-referencing single "We Can't Stop":

"I didn't make this song for the critics, but for the people living it. I'm 20 years old and I want to talk to the people that are up all night with their friends. It's based on a true story of a crazy night I had: When I heard the song for the first time, it captured exactly what I was living."

On forging her own musical path:

"I've always wanted country-rock influences, but now I'm moving over to a more urban side. It's not a hip-hop album, though -- it's a pop album. I'm not coming in trying to rap. It's more like, 'I don't see any girls out there doing what Miguel and Frank Ocean are doing.' We've been calling it 'count-step,' because it's like country, dubstep and a little trap. I love the Lumineers, but I also love French Montana, Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa and Dolly Parton. If you could put Dolly, some Adele and Juicy J together, you'd have that weird balance."

On the regrets of her musical past:

"Right now, when people go to iTunes and listen to my old music, it's so irritating to me because I can't just erase that stuff and start over. My last record [2009's 'Can't Be Tamed'] I feel so disconnected from -- I was 16 or 17 when I made it. When you're in your 20s, you just don't really know that person anymore. ... I want to start as a new artist. I consider my upcoming album my first, really."

On embracing her youth:
"I can't really be told what to do right now. I'm too young to go in and make someone else's vision come to life. I want to go make my visions."