More than 40,000 Sign Petition Calling for YouTube Ban of Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse” Video

Katy Perry's "Dark Horse" video shows the singer as an Egyptian queen, Katy-Patra, who systematically destroys suitors who come to her bearing gifts, turning the men into sand.  But one particular scene in the video has offended some Muslims so much that they've launched a petition to get it banned from YouTube.

In the video, one of Katy-Patra's suitors is wearing a gold pendant that displays the name of God, or Allah, written in Arabic. After accepting his gift of an enormous diamond, Katy causes lightning to strike him, and he disintegrates.   The petition states, "A man is shown being burned, whilst wearing a pendant (also burned) forming the word 'Allah'...blasphemy is clearly conveyed in the video, since Katy Perry (who appears to be representing an opposition of God) engulfs the believer and the word God in flames."

The petition goes on to say that the "Dark Horse" clip "promotes blasphemy, using the name of God in an irrelevant and distasteful manner [that] would be considered inappropriate by any religion. We hope that the video itself depicting such images is removed."

One person who signed the petition commented, "This video is really offensive to muslim faith!" while another added that they are "extremely hurt by the video," adding, "It is not tolerable and my only request is to all Artists in the Music industry, you have wealth, fame and success. Please do not use the foundations of other religions in a mockery to carry out your fame."

When we last checked, the petition had attracted over 40,000 signatures.