Avril Lavigne says 'Hello Kitty' video was 'leaked' onto Youtube

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."