Robbie Williams Criticised For "Punching A Pensioner" In 'Candy' Music Video

6 November 2012, 11:25

The NPC slams Take That singer for poking fun at the controversial scene from his new video.

Robbie Williams has been criticised by Britain's biggest pensioner organisation over a scene in his new music video for 'Candy' where he is seen "punching a pensioner".

The National Pensioners Convention (NPC) has called on Robbie to apologise over the clip after he made comments about it during a TV interview.

The Take That star joked that he had decided to use a pensioner in the video after originally being asked to "kick a dog".

"They wanted me to kick a dog but I'm an animal lover, then they asked me to punch a pensioner and I said Yes I'm in," Robbie said.

The NPC has now asked Robbie to say sorry over the remarks and highlighted how elder abuse is a "serious issue".

Robbie Williams has been criticised by the NPC over the scene in the video for 'Candy' where he is seen "punching a pensioner":

Dot Gibson, NPC general secretary, said: "This isn't about pensioners needing a sense of humour or people having the right to artistic freedom. This is about basic common decency.

"Almost every week the news is filled with stories of abuse and neglect about the way older people are being treated in this country. Celebrities should think twice before making ageist comments which seem to imply that pensioners should be treated in a degrading way.

"Elder abuse is a serious issue and needs to be tackled rather than seen as a bit of a joke. We need to be uniting the generations, not suggesting that they are different. Pensioners are just young people who grew older."

Watch the music video for 'Candy' below:

The music video for 'Candy' was originally released in September.

The track is the first single to be taken from Robbie's new album 'Take The Crown', which was released this week.