Bieber: "Keep The Monkey!"

The effortless transformation of Justin Bieber from dreamy teen heartthrob to heartless, self-centered pop star continues apace. The latest news is that the possibly troubled singer has decided to abandon his pet monkey to German authorities rather than go through the complicated process of getting the animal back to America.

The latest display of ego-centric celebrity attitude comes just days after Bieber penned a message saying he hoped the Dutch schoolgirl Anne Frank would have been a Belieber.

The current row involves a young Cappuchin monkey, named Mally, which was given to Bieber aged just nine weeks old (clarification: the monkey was nine weeks old).

But little Mally was seized by German authorities when he flew into the country without the correct paperwork for a pet primate as part of his European tour on March 28.

At the time, Justin’s people got in touch and indicated that they wanted the monkey back but now Germany’s Bild newspaper is reporting that Justin’s people in the U.S. have backtracked and once again reached out to the German authorities – and asked them to place the monkey in a zoo or other safe place.

Belieb.

Mally is currently in quarantine in a Munich animal sanctuary. Animal shelter boss Karl Heinz Joachim described the situation previously as "heartbreaking," saying, “A baby monkey is not something suitable to be on a world tour even if he is traveling by private jet. He should be out in the wild climbing trees and learning from other monkeys if he isn't to have serious psychological problems later in life."

Bieber has not had a great European tour, PR-wise. He was two hours late for his show at the O2 arena in London, infuriating parents, collapsed on stage with breathing difficulties at the same venue later in the week and the following day he tried to start a fight a photographer. Then came the Anne Frank debacle.

Friends said the end of his two-year relationship with the actress, Selena Gomez, 20, left him devastated and he hurtled off the rails.

One said of Justin, 19: “He was crazily in love with her. She kept him grounded. She’s been a tower of strength through all the hysteria of being one of the world’s most famous pop stars. To lose her was like losing an anchor.”

And it seems that Mally the monkey just wasn’t enough to plug the gap.