Let's just get one thing straight, Britney, it's not cool to be in love with a criminal. It's also not cool to point a gun at a man in a convenience store. The fact that these things form the premise of your new music video would be atrocious - if you could act.
For people worrying about Rihanna's teeny-tiny outfits, I'd suggest more concern should be raised by Britney's latest antics. If having a blonde, leather-clad superstar brandishing a gun at a shop owner's face isn't glamourising violence, I'm not sure what is.
However, this isn't the beginning of a campaign to ban the video as it's so unconvincing it's almost laughable. Plus, Britney has already defended the video, via her management, with a pre-emptively defensive statement saying: "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."
For those not familiar with the controversy that surrounded the video even before its release, it was filmed in London after the summer riots. Local politicians criticised the singer when she was seen waving a replica gun in an area affected by the violence.
In essence, Britney's Criminal video seems more like an opportunity for her to live out her sexual fantasies than anything beneficial to music fans. It starts off with her real-life boyfriend Trawick rescuing her from the arms of an abusive date and then taking her on an adrenaline-packed ride.
We later watch them making out. Sure, pop stars make out with muscly, tattooed guys in their videos all the time, but the fact that this is her real-life beau somehow makes it feel like we're watching some sort of legitimate, well-shot sex tape.
Britney's great, but this video isn't. Next time, stick to dancing.
WATCH: What do you think of her latest output?