The Next Day – David Bowie’s most recent video music, which stars Gary Oldman and Marion Cotillard – was temporarily pulled from YouTube over its graphic content.
The Next Day features heavy religious imagery, including Marion Cotillard bleeding from stigmata marks.
YouTube admitted making the “wrong call” in removing the video, and reinstated it with an adult content warning.
Former Archbishop of Canterbury Lord Carey has called the video “juvenile”.
Lord Carey told The Telegraph: “If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery perhaps Christians should not worry too much at such an exploitation of religious imagery.
“I doubt that Bowie would have the courage to use Islamic imagery – I very much doubt it.
“Frankly, I don’t get offended by such juvenilia – Christians should have the courage to rise above offensive language, although I hope Bowie will recognize that he may be upsetting some people.”
The Next Day is taken from David Bowie’s comeback album of the same name.
The video sees David Bowie performing in a basement bar, surrounded by religious figures, while Gary Oldman, dressed as a priest, punches a beggar before dancing with a prostitute, played by Oscar-winner Marion Cotillard.
A spokesman for YouTube said: “With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it’s brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it.”
David Bowie’s last video, for The Stars (Are Out Tonight), featured another Oscar-winner, Tilda Swinton.
Gary Oldman previously worked with David Bowie in the 1990s, when they performed a duet on guitarist Reeves Gabrels’ 1995 album The Sacred Squall of Now.
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