Justin Timberlake can post nudity to YouTube because, art

On July 3rd, Justin Timberlake released a provocative video for his single "Tunnel Vision." It features a bevy of naked ladies dancing while a fully-clothed JT sings and dances in a couple of different positions throughout. At one point his face is projected onto the bodies of the naked women while producer/rapper Timbaland offers some vocal stylings of his own.

A few hours after the video was originally posted, YouTube pulled it citing the company's "no nudity" policy. But, yesterday, the ban on "Tunnel Vision" was lifted because, art. The video was again available on YouTube, this time with a warning and an age verification step.

"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," a Google spokesperson told ABC News on Friday morning.

"Tunnel Vision" has already garnered three million views.

And, the whole ordeal is that much more hilarious because Robin Thicke, who's built a career doing exactly what Justin Timberlake is going to do before Justin Timberlake does it (even though no one seems to care), had his "Blurred Lines" video banned from YouTube for the same reason, but wasn't granted the nudity pass because, apparently, his video wasn't artistic enough or something. Should have gone with black and white, man. There's a "Newman!" joke in there somewhere. [ABC News]