Avril Lavigne has defended her new music video for the track 'Hello Kitty' claiming it isn't racist in any way.
The 29-year-old pop star released the promo, on Tuesday April 22, which sees her singing Japanese phrases surrounded by an group of Asian dancers, but it was later deleted due to the controversial content, and now the singer insists the video was specifically for Japanese fans.
Avril took to Twitter today (24.04.14) to defend the video, posting: "RACIST??? LOLOLOL!!! I love Japanese culture and I spend half of my time in Japan. I flew to Tokyo to shoot this video ... specifically for my Japanese fans, WITH my Japanese label, Japanese choreographers AND a Japanese director IN Japan. (sic)"
The clip has since reappeared on YouTube today and has received hundreds of 'dislikes' in terms of its disapproval rating, while Billboard slammed the "trainwreck" video for its "Japan fetishisation".
The publication called Avril out for "parading around with four identical, creepily expressionless Asian women ... performing mind-numbingly generic dance moves, in locales like a bedroom, a candy store and a street."
But fans took to Twitter to defend the promo, with one posting: "They don't understand that a large majority of your fanbase is Japanese. THEY'RE the racist ones for calling it "weird" ! (sic)"
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