The song was banned by twenty UK universities. Essex University students started a petition to have the song banned there too. Alice Smart, a Leeds Student Union officer, said, “I’m proud that we’ve taken the decision to stop playing ‘Blurred Lines’ in our bars and clubs because the song undermines real and dangerous issues around consent. Just because the song has been commercially successful doesn’t mean we have to play it knowing that it offends a high proportion of our students.” Thicke responded on "The Today Show" to feminist criticism of the song by saying, "If you listen to the lyrics it says 'That man is not your maker.' It's actually a feminist movement in itself". He also said in an interview with the BBC that criticism of the lyrics by a rape charity is 'ridiculous'.