Sia has apologised to those offended by her video for 'Elastic Heart'.

The clip which features 28-year-old actor Shia LaBeouf and 12-year-old Maddie Ziegler has been criticised for being potentially perverse - as it shows the pair performing an interpretive dance in a cage, while dressed in skin-coloured leotards - prompting the singer to clarify the meaning behind the video which she says depicts ''warring'' parts of her personality.

Taking to her official Twitter account, she wrote: ''I anticipated some 'pedophelia!!!' Cries for this video. All I can say is Maddie and Shia are two of the only actors I felt could play

''These two warring 'sia' self states. (sic)''

The video - which has racked up over three million views in less than 24 hours - caused some social media users to slam the 39-year-old musician for creating the ''disgusting'' piece, with one user saying it ''Smacks of child molestation #pervert #unacceptable #childabuse...Explain please!'' while another fan simple wrote, ''Sia's 'Elastic Heart' video is disgusting.''

However, as well as explaining what she hoped viewers would see when watching the video, the singer - who released her sixth studio album '1000 Forms of Fear' last year - apologised to those who found it disturbing.

She added: ''I apologize to those who feel triggered by #ElasticHeart My intention was to create some emotional content, not to upset anybody.''