More about: Avril Lavigne
Reasons given for video being deleted
Avril Lavigne's 'Hello Kitty' video was reportedly leaked onto Youtube, according to a spokesperson for the star, explaining why the clip had been removed from the website.
The Canadian singer removed the video from her official Youtube on 23 April, following uproar from almost everyone who had watched it - with many confused over whether it was 'terrible, racist or terribly racist'. However, it has been claimed that it was never meant to be streamed on Youtube and it was a mere accident that it showed up online and shocked everyone who watched it, reports MTV. It was only ever meant to appear on her official website.
The video showed Lavigne dressed as a Japanese schoolgirl, dancing with Japanese dancers in Tokyo and was intended as a tribute to Japanese culture. "Racist? Lololol!" she wrote on her Twitter page. "I love Japanese culture and I spend half 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."
Despite all that, unauthorised version are still online. Watch 'Hello Kitty' below
Below: want more? Here are the five worst moments of 'Hello Kitty'
Her dead-eyed dancers: Oh, joy. Never since Gwen Stefani and her poor Harajuku Girls has a group of Asian women be so dumbed down, made to look indentikit and paraded around as a white singer's accessory. They continue to look like, well, dolls for the remainder of the video, in comparison to Avril's SPUNKY! LIVELINESS! AND QUIRKINESS!
Every single bit posing with the bloody guitar: This woman is 29 years old.
TEEHEE, SUSHI!: Clapping and giggling with excitement when given a tray of sushi - all of these things are TOTALLY Japanese (the only thing that's missing is the anime). It's like a video director being given a brief for a French-themed clip and filling it with baguettes, onions and striped tops. Did the researcher ever get past simply letting Google autofill after the word 'Japan'?
When she acts like the Queen: There's a particularly irritating segment when Avril swans around, waving to her fans (…) like she's transformed their monotonous, black-and-white, Western-starved world with one single hand gesture. In reality, she was probably waving at one big ol' tumbleweed. :(
Poor Monki: Here we see Avril wearing those suspender tights we briefly and regrettably flirted with wearing in 2010. In the background you can see popular Swedish outfitters Monki, who never asked for this product placement.
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More about: Avril Lavigne
