Canadian singer Justin Bieber poses for photographers at the BRIT music awards at the O2 Arena in LondonTOBY MELVILLE
Last week, the big Justin Bieber story was that he and his girlfriend were getting a puppy. This morning, it's that the Canadian pop star is facing a gritty paternity suit in California.
Parents may have needed an extra shot of espresso this morning after their kids logged on to their various devices and saw the news.
The 17-year-old is accused of impregnating a fan after a brief sexual encounter backstage at a Los Angeles concert, according to celebrity news and gossip site Radar Online .
His representatives are calling the claim "malicious, defamatory and demonstrably false," reports the site.
The original news appears in this week's gossip magazine Star, in which 20-year-old Californian Mariah Yeater claims Bieber is the father of her three-month-old baby, reports the site.
"In a hand-signed affidavit, sworn under the penalty of perjury, Yeater told a California court that Bieber propositioned her on October 25 of last year, when she was 19," reports the site.
This led to sex in a bathroom sans condom, she claims.
The allegations have yet to be proven in court - the affidavit was reportedly filed on Monday.
On Twitter on Wednesday, Bieber wrote "all the rumours . . . the gossip . . . . Im gonna focus on the positives . . . . the music."
While the Biebs has long been a parent-approved pop idol - his music's bearable and he's pretty wholesome - the mop-haired teen has clearly been growing up in ways that might give a parent pause.
Not one for promise rings a la Jonas Brothers, Bieber has been unabashedly hinting at a sex life all year.
Racy photos of Bieber and his girlfriend, Selena Gomez, romping on various beach sojourns are routine fodder for celebrity magazines and have no doubt given a few parents panic attacks. Especially these, from a vacation in May.
But a reportedly raunchy one-night-stand that resulted in a baby? That's a hefty teachable moment for any parent.