Bieber remains in a league of his own

Justin Bieber is making the transition from tween sensation to adult icon, which is sometimes easier said than done.

On New Year's Day, a photographer was killed crossing the street after taking pictures of Bieber's Ferrari. Bieber, who wasn't present at the scene, said in a statement: "While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim."

The 19-year-old ticked off his fans after he showed up a reported two hours late to a concert at London's O2 Arena. He disputed that in a tweet, saying he was only 40 minutes behind schedule.

In January, Bieber was photographed holding what TMZ identified as marijuana. He poked fun of the incident when he hosted "Saturday Night Live" in February: "I also heard he got busted for smoking weed and he's really sorry about it and that people make mistakes and that he's never going to do it again," Bieber said in character during a skit with Vanessa Bayer.

Bieber later wound up sick in a London hospital. Being a lusted-after star, it's not surprising that he tried to show how "well" he felt by posting a shirtless photo of himself online.

Bieber and photographers, we've learned by now, don't mix. The singer got into a shouting match with a paparazzo in London as he exited the hospital at the end of a turbulent week, telling the photog that he'd "f*** him up."

After he was ragged on by Olivia Wilde for going topless in London, Bieber strolled through an airport terminal in Poland sans shirt on March 25.

• Justin Bieber is one of many celebs who've grown up under the proverbial microscope
• "I think I'll make a smooth transition from a teen star to an adult star," he said in 2011
• 2013 is already shaping up to be that fateful transition time in Bieber's career

(CNN) -- Justin Bieber has been a household name since before he was old enough to drive. We listened as his voice changed and watched him trade in his purple hoodies and signature swoopy hair for low-riding pants and a more voluminous 'do.

The 19-year-old pop star is one of many celebrities who've grown up under the proverbial micro! scope, wh! ere the simplest rites of passage -- like grabbing your girlfriend's backside during a passionate make-out session -- are headline fodder.

It's nothing we haven't seen before. Stars like Christina Aguilera and Shia LaBeouf would likely agree that the transition from teen sensation to adult icon is seldom seamless.

For whatever reason, Bieber might have considered himself to be an exception.

"I think I'll make a smooth transition from a teen star to an adult star," he told USA Today in 2011. "I don't want to grow up too quickly and do anything that's not smart."

Two years later, 2013 is shaping up to be that fateful time in the Canadian-born star's career.

In January he was seen holding what sites identified as marijuana in one photograph, while another showed him getting handsy with a female fan. Earlier this month, Bieber had his "worst birthday," and angered fans when he was late to the stage for a sold-out show at London's O2 Arena.

The most recent Bieber news isn't any more flattering. According to authorities, the singer's neighbor is accusing him of "battery and threats" after a confrontation took place outside his California home on Tuesday.

As The New York Times pointed out after the "Girlfriend" singer's 18th birthday last year, "Mr. Bieber can be his own man, sure, so long as he continues to belong to everyone else too."

Despite rejecting comparisons to Justin Timberlake, Bieber would be lucky to moonwalk into adulthood the way the "Suit & Tie" singer has. Of course, Timberlake had the support of his boy band 'N Sync behind him when he made the leap. It also helped that there were other male stars around, like the Backstreet Boys, helping to dim the harsh limelight.

Bieber doesn't exactly have a counterpart today. While "Twilight" stars Taylor Lautner and Robert Pattinson, or "Hunger Games" stars Liam Hemsworth and Josh Hutcherson, have distracted the media -- and countless tween fans -- Bieber remains in a league of his own.

Miley Cyrus can likely relate. Every step of her own maturation -- from the time she danced with a pole at the 2009 Teen Choice Awards, to her drastic haircut in 2012 -- has made headlines.

The "Can't Be Tamed" singer and "Last Song" actress issued a public apology after a video surfaced of her smoking salvia (an herb sold legally in many health food stores) in 2010.

"But do you really think it was a mistake?" Marie Claire's Kimberly Cutter asked Cyrus in a 2011 interview. "Obviously college kids your age all over America are smoking bongs with a lot more than salvia in them."

"But they're not Miley Cyrus," she said. "They're not role models. So for me it was a bad decision, because of my fans and because of what I stand for."

Cyrus is getting older, but she's not in and out of court (no offense, Lindsay), or getting into car wreck after car wreck (no offense, Amanda), so isn't the "good girl gone bad" label pushing it?

Another former Disney princess who's growing up in the public eye is Bieber's former girlfriend, Selena Gomez. The singer-actress is attempting to shed her Disney image (without muddying her squeaky-clean off-screen persona) by co-starring in the raucous crime dramedy "Spring Breakers."

Gomez hasn't taken nearly as much heat as Cyrus, though she has shown a fair amount of side boob with her red carpet choices of late.

Despite the age-old idea that each generation is more reckless than the last, Bieber and his famous peers don't appear to be rebelling so much as they're just getting older.

Jada Pinkett Smith, whose son Jaden is friends with Bieber, recently took to her Facebook page to express her frustrations with the way young stars are treated:

"Is it okay to continually attack and criticize (Bieber) a famous 19 year old who is simply trying to build a life, exercise his talents while figuring out what manhood and fame is all about as he carries the weight of supporting his family as well as providing the paychecks to others who depend on him to work so they can feed their families as well?" She wrote. "Does that render being called a c--- by an adult male photographer as you try to return to your hotel after leaving the (sic) hospital?"

Sure, Bieber has consciously snapped a few pictures of his bare abs, and strolled through the airport topless, but the singer hasn't even been present for some of the events that produced the most scandalous and tragic headlines of all.

In 2011, a California woman alleged in a paternity lawsuit that Bieber fathered her 3-month-old baby boy.

And in January, a photographer was killed by oncoming traffic after he thought he saw Bieber sitting in his white Ferrari in Los Angeles.

"While I was not present nor directly involved with this tragic accident, my thoughts and prayers are with the family of the victim," Bieber said in a statement.

"There's a lot of pressure on this kid to do bigger, better things," Jennifer Chancellor wrote on TulsaWorld.com ! Janua! ry. "The adoration could be crushing. Bieber, so far, has mastered it by being himself. That means being human. He threw up on stage once; he's raced cars; he's partied ... some."

Maybe we should all take a page out of Internet sensation and Britney Spears' advocate Chris Crocker's book and just leave Bieber alone?