Justin Timberlake has sued to block the release of bodycam footage from his DWI arrest.
The former *NSYNC star was arrested in 2024 after allegedly driving through a stop sign and swerving out of his lane. He was charged with the misdemeanour offence of SWI at the time. He allegedly told the officer that he’d had one martini and was following friends home in his car. It was reported that he refused a breath test and spent the night at the local police station.
He later agreed to a plea deal for the charge to be dropped from driving while intoxicated (DWI) to driving while ability impaired (DWAI), and called for fans to think again if they considered driving under the influence of alcohol. The judge sentenced the singer to a $500 (£380) fine with a $260 (£198) surcharge, and 25 hours of community service at a non-profit of his choice.
Now, 20 months after his arrest, he’s filed a petition against the Village of Sag Harbor and its police department to prevent the release of bodycam footage from the arrest, saying it would cause “severe and irreparable harm to [his] personal and professional reputation” and “subject [him] to public ridicule and harassment.”
Timberlake is seeking a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to prevent the town of Sag Harbor from releasing the footage. His attorneys met with a judge on Monday (March 2), and argued that releasing the unedited footage would be an invasion of his privacy.
It comes as a response to public records requests seeking the video submitted by multiple news outlets that cover the singer and his career.
“The footage at issue depicts petitioner in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement, capturing intimate details of petitioner’s physical appearance, demeanor, speech, and conduct during field sobriety testing, the subsequent arrest, and petitioner’s confinement following arrest over the next several hours,” the petition notes, per Hollywood Reporter.
Notably, Timberlake reportedly told the arresting officer during the stop that, “This is going to ruin the tour” – a phrase that since became a meme.
The petition continues, “Public dissemination of this footage would cause severe and irreparable harm to Petitioner’s personal and professional reputation, subject Petitioner to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government.
“Disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion of Petitioner’s personal privacy under Public Officers Law. The privacy interests at stake decisively outweigh any purported public benefit from disclosure, and this court should exercise its authority to prevent the release of this highly sensitive material.”
A judge didn’t immediately rule on Timberlake’s request, but instead asked his attorneys confer with Sag Harbor officials to find a possible resolution, ABC News reports.
In other news, in March 2024, he released his sixth album, ‘Everything I Thought It Was’. In a three-star review, NME wrote: “Timberlake is a less beloved pop superstar than he probably should be 25 years after he sang ‘It’s gonna be may’ on an era-defining NSYNC banger.
“‘Everything I Thought It Was’ shows he hasn’t lost his vocal chops or ability to work a groove, but it doesn’t do enough to make you block out past misdemeanours. For now, Timberlake’s problematic fave era will have to wait.”
Last summer, the singer shared that he had been diagnosed with Lyme Disease. In February, he returned to performing for the first time since revealing his diagnosis.
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