David Bowie's controversial video for new single The Next Day is back up on YouTube.com after site bosses confessed to making "the wrong call" by choosing to remove it from the website.

The rocker recruited actors Marion Cotillard and Gary Oldman to star in the religious-themed promo, which features a Christ-like Bowie performing at a bar in front of a collection of figures from the Christian faith, including a Cardinal dishing out cash to dancing girls.

Cotillard's prostitute character transforms into a saint after stigmata on her hands gush blood over a topless nun, while another scene features a monk practising self-flagellation.

The video, directed by filmmaker Floria Sigismundi, was pulled by YouTube executives hours later its release online on Wednesday (08May13), amid allegations it violated their terms of service.

However, it has since been restored to the video-sharing website with an adults-only rating, and now a YouTube spokesperson admits they were wrong to take it down in the first place.

The representative tells Billboard.com, "With the massive volume of videos on our site, sometimes we make the wrong call. When it's brought to our attention that a video has been removed mistakenly, we act quickly to reinstate it."