(Cover) - EN Showbiz - The director of Britney Spears' latest promo was "blown away" when politicians started discussing it.

The video for the singer's track Criminal was shot in London and debuted this week. She goes on a crime spree with her boyfriend, played by her real life love Jason Trawick.

Britney is seen with a gun in the clip, which has been widely criticised. She filmed the promo not long after the London riots and politicians in the UK have accused her of glamorising violence.

Director Chris Marrs Piliero is astounded that British parliament members have made such comments.

"Holding the gun became a controversial thing 'cause we filmed it in London, and they don't have a lot of gun use out there," he told MTV News. "That doesn't mean that there's no gun use, so I did find it really interesting. For me, the thing is, it blew me away that members of [the British] Parliament were speaking about this. One, because it's a music video, and two, because don't you guys have television shows out there that show crime? It's really strange to me."

Chris believes the controversy was partly caused by people who expect all famous people to be role models who never put a foot wrong. He thinks that is unfair, especially as no harm was meant by the Criminal video.

"I don't understand why pop stars are put on such a high pedestal over other celebrities. Why do members of Parliament feel that they need to scrutinise her for having a gun, and, 'She's in the public,' and, 'She should know better,' and, 'She's a role model,' but what about every other celebrity out there? What about every other actor? That's very strange to me. I was really surprised at how much the gun use was scrutinised," he admitted. (C) Cover Media