Avril Lavigne’s new Japanese-themed music video for her song Hello Kitty has disappeared from YouTube.com, hours after the pop star came under fire amid allegations the promo features racist stereotypes.

The Sk8er Boi hitmaker released the video, in which she prances around on a rooftop, in a candy store and in a sushi bar as four expressionless Asian girls pose as her backing dancers, online on Tuesday (22Apr14), but the playful promo, which exaggerates Japan’s kawaii (cute) culture, didn’t sit well with some fans.

It sparked a backlash and many devotees took to Twitter.com to express their outrage, turning the hashtag #avrilracist into a trending topic. One user wrote, “Not sure if this Avril Lavigne video is terrible, racist, or terribly racist”, while another tweeted, “Oh Avril, this is literally the worst music I have ever heard. And then you had to go and make it kinda racist. Why.”

Lavigne has yet to comment on the controversy, but the promo has since been removed from YouTube.com. A representative for the video-sharing website has revealed that YouTube bosses did not take down Hello Kitty, but confirmed to MTV News the promo is not currently available for public viewing. The video is still available on Lavigne’s website.