Britney Spears is refusing to apologise to officials in the U.K. for featuring guns in her video for new single Criminal, because the promo tells a "fantasy story".
The pop superstar filmed scenes for her latest single in east London earlier this month (Sep11), and during the Bonnie and Clyde-themed shoot she was photographed running out of a convenience store in Hackney waving a fake gun.
Local politicians on Hackney Council were outraged by the controversial video, which was filmed just weeks after riots unfolded in the area, and demanded an apology from Spears - but she is unrepentant about the shoot.
A statement from Spears' management to MTV News reads, "The video is a fantasy story featuring Britney's boyfriend, Jason Trawick, which literally plays out the lyrics of a song written three years before the riots ever happened."
Unrest spread across England in early August (11), shops were looted and set on fire, while violence hit cities including London and Manchester.