Justin Bieber on Anne Frank: “Hopefully she would have been a belieber”

Are Justin Bieber's millions of obsessive fans, pre-teen girls who refer to themselves as "beliebers," giving him a warped view of young women? 

Bieber visited the Anne Frank House on Friday and left a bizarre message in her memory, according to museum staff.  "He stayed more than an hour in the museum," the Anne Frank House museum posted on Facebook, adding: "In our guestbook he wrote: 'Truly inspiring to be able to come here. Anne was a great girl. Hopefully she would have been a belieber.'"

More from GlobalPost: Anne Frank tree saplings headed for 11 US locations

His takeaway from the visit has sparked both outrage and passionate defenses. One particularly dramatic defense of Bieber that the Washington Post found: "ironic that all of you are spewing hate. . . you are demonstrating the very behavior that took her life."

Bieber's camp has not denied the museum's report. But TMZ says that it heard from a source connected to Bieber, who also tried to defend the comment. The anonymous source says that the singer learned Anne Frank was interested in pop culture of her time, which is why he wrote the "belieber" comment.