He Really Needs to Leave Paula Patton Alone

There doesn't seem to be a limit on how many times we have to say this, so I guess we'll say it again: Robin Thicke's attempts to get Paula Patton back are creepy. Thicke has crossed the line from sympathetic into vaguely threatening and now my sympathies entirely rest with Paula Patton. After all, Thicke has taken something that is supposed to be very private and very personal and turned it into a public spectacle that will, in a worst case scenario, make him tons of money whether or not he gets Patton back. Meanwhile, Patton can't even Google herself without seeing at least three videos of Thicke trying to sing his way back in her heart. His latest attempt was at the BET Awards during which Thicke gave Patton another tearful apology as an introduction to one of his songs that felt too emotional.

"Good evening, my name is Robin Thicke," said Thicke on Sunday while sitting at a grand piano. "I’d like to dedicate this song to my wife, and say, 'I miss you, and I’m sorry.' This is called 'Forever Love.'"

Thicke even had to pause in the middle of the song in order to sniffle and a fan noted to US Weekly that Thicke appeared to be crying "during and after the performance". He's really hurting, you guys! Paula Patton just has to give him another chance because she's left him an emotional, broken wreck of a man who can't dedicate a song to her without breaking into tears!

Or not. While I'm sure that Thicke is genuinely hurting from the loss of his wife of nine years, I can't help but feel that these staged apologies are starting to feel more calculating than genuine. With the announcement of Paula, Thicke has been at the center of just as much — if not more — controversy than he was during the "Blurred Lines" era. While before we made Thicke a household name because of the anti-feminist, misogynistic consent issues inherent in that song, now we're making him a household name because of the anti-feminist, misogynistic consent issues inherent in the entire Paula album.

As horrible as it might be to think of it that way, if you've already made a market out of such a controversy then it's probably just as easy to continue to bank on it. Thicke definitely does want Paula Patton back, but the fact that he chose to make it a public thing just reeks of capitalizing on something. At this point, it seems all too likely that he no longer expects to get Patton back with this. What he expects is to sell a lot of singles and albums based entirely on the fact that people are bewildered by exactly how low he can sink in his "Get Her Back" campaign — or still think it's sweet that Patton is able to affect him in this way.

And then there's Patton, who still has yet to comment on any of Thicke's public apologies and probably couldn't do so without suffering the backlash and wrath of Thicke's fans. Thicke has put her in a lose/lose situation. Either she continues to stay silent, or speaks out about how uncomfortable she is, and is painted as the villain who couldn't see how sweet it was that a man can't take no for an answer or she gets back together with Thicke and is painted as the villain who let a man borderline stalk and harass her back into his arms.

The more Thicke continues to refuse to see how his behavior is affecting the woman he claims he loves, the harder it is to believe that he really cares about getting her back anymore. Watch Thicke's performance below.

Image: Degrassi Wiki