Justin Timberlake's racy video restored on YouTube

Justin Timberlake has been granted special permission to share his titillating new video on YouTube.com after website bosses initially removed the promo due to its explicit content.

The SexyBack hitmaker recruited a string of beauties to dance wearing just a pair of nude panties for the arty Tunnel Vision clip and he debuted it online on Wednesday (03Jul13).

The racy seven-minute film was pulled from YouTube hours after its premiere after site bosses declared it violated the site's decency rules, which bans "nudity or sexual content", but it appears company executives have since had a change of heart and have made an exception for Timberlake's track.

A statement issued to Eonline.com reads: "While our guidelines generally prohibit nudity, we make exceptions when it is presented in an educational, documentary or artistic context, and take care to add appropriate warnings and age restrictions."

Tunnel Vision now features a warning when users click to view the video. The notice states: "The following content has been identified by the YouTube community as being potentially offensive or inappropriate. Viewer discretion is advised."

Justin Timberlake's new video is the second pop song to face a temporary YouTube ban in the last few months - Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines, which also features naked women dancing, was briefly taken down amid similar concerns in March (13).