Avril Lavigne has been forced to take to Twitter to defend the music video for her most recent single “Hello Kitty” over claims that it is racist.

The video appeared on YouTube on Tuesday and faced criticism over its depiction of Japanese culture.

It was later taken down and it was thought that it was because of the criticism it received although the singer’s representatives claim it was simply taken down because it was not meant to be posted so early.

Avril responded to the racism claims on Twitter saying: "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.

"Obviously it's flirtatious and somewhat sexual, but it's genuinely about my love for Hello Kitty as well!"