When speaking at Hay Festival of Literature and Arts, evolutionary biology professor Ben Garrod calls out the 'Sorry' hitmaker and Rihanna for encouraging others to think of owning primates.
- June 1, 2019
AceShowbiz - Justin Bieber has been slammed as a "super-moron" by a leading primate expert for keeping a monkey as a pet.
Justin, 25, hit the headlines in 2013 when his pet capuchin monkey Mally was confiscated in Germany, forcing the singer to abandon him in a local zoo. The episode apparently did little to put him off the idea as he subsequently said in an interview he'd consider buying another furry friend.
According to British newspaper The Times, Ben Garrod, a professor of evolutionary biology at the University of East Anglia, spoke at Britain's Hay Festival of Literature & Arts on Wednesday, May 29, about his forthcoming book "The Chimpanzee & Me". In his talk he called out celebrities for encouraging people to think of primates as pets, and targeted Justin in particular.
"Justin Bieber, the guys a moron," he said. "Absolute super-moron. He got a pet monkey that he took from America to Germany and was like, 'Oh look I've got my own pet monkey.' No you can't do that. He got it confiscated and he said, 'I'll just buy another one.'"
He went on to criticise any celebrity who promotes monkey ownership as setting a bad example, adding: "When you see celebrities like Rihanna and Justin Bieber and a few others with pet monkeys, that is really bad and we should tell people it's really bad."
Although Rihanna is not on record as owning a monkey, she was pictured cuddling and feeding one in Barbados in 2015. Her former partner Chris Brown also faced legal action in California after buying a capuchin without a permit. He was forced to hand the animal over to the authorities.
Professor Garrod also warned that monkeys kept as pets would be "dead within two years" as owners lacked the expertise to look after the creatures and called having them as pets "insane".
