Director Todd Phillips has insisted that a monkey trained to smoke for 'The Hangover Part II' has not become addicted to nicotine.
The sequel has just wrapped on the new road trip film which see the return of Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis.
Speaking to Total Film, the helmer admitted: "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."
However, Phillips has now said that he was joking about the monkey smoking and that she is not a cocaine addict, as portrayed in the film, telling Movieline: "This was a joke. I make comedies.
"When you are doing press for a film, it tends to get repetitive, lots of the same questions over and over.
"Sometimes I like to mix it up with the journalists. Obviously, the monkey in the film never smoked a single cigarette. Even if I wanted her to smoke it wouldn't be allowed."
'The Hangover Part II' follows the friends on their travels through Bangkok and according to Phillips, will feature some big "surprises".
