Even in 2013 David Bowie can shock people. The singer’s latest video, featuring women in stripper costumes cavorting in a bar with priests, was briefly pulled from YouTube on Wednesday, then returned with an adults-only label, according to Reuters and Mr. Bowie’s publicist.
The video for “The Next Day†disappeared temporarily from YouTube and was replaced with a note saying it had been removed because its content violated YouTube’s terms of service, the singer’s representative, Elizabeth Lutz, said in an e-mail.
Directed by the filmmaker Floria Sigismondi and written by Mr. Bowie, the video takes place in a bar where priests, a bishop and scantily clad women are dancing as Mr. Bowie, dressed as a prophet, and his band are playing. It stars Gary Oldman as a priest dancing with a woman in a leotard played by the French actress Marion Cotillard. Toward the end of the piece, she develops stigmata and bleeds profusely while Mr. Oldman screams that Mr. Bowie’s character is to blame. There is also a monk flogging himself, a woman with no eyes, and a cardinal who hands cash to women who kiss his ring.
A spokeswoman for YouTube told Reuters that the video was returned to the Web site with a restriction for viewers aged 18 and above after complaints. “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,†said the spokeswoman, whom Reuters did not name.
