UPDATE: The Hangover Part 2 Monkey Is Now Addicted to Cigarettes, Todd Phillips Regretfully Reports

Maybe including a monkey in The Hangover Part II was not director Todd Phillips's finest idea. Earlier this month, the Motion Picture Association of America (rightly) complained about a sequence in which the denim jacketed primate simulates oral sex on Zach Galifianakis and Warner Bros. was forced to pull the the trailer from theaters. And now, officials at People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals are (rightly) outraged that Crystal, the capuchin monkey who appears in the film, cannot quit cigarettes after being taught to smoke on the Hangover: Part II set in Bangkok. UPDATE: The Hangover 2 monkey never actually smoked cigarettes, Phillips says.

Phillips explained the unfortunate situation to Total Film Magazine:

"I wanted the monkey to smoke so we had to train her to. Now I have PETA after me because the monkey's become addicted to cigarettes. She was just shooting Cameron Crowe's movie We Bought A Zoo. And the monkey won't stop smoking."

At least the monkey gets its own promotional poster? But then again, that won't cure lung cancer. Good luck sleeping at night, Todd Phillips.

UPDATED 4/16: Todd Phillips explains to Movieline that his quotes were meant as a joke. Read his full explanation here.

· Todd Phillips Under Fire From PETA For Smoking Monkey [Total Film Magazine via TheFanCarpet.com]