Justin Timberlake is suing to block the release of police body camera footage from his drunken driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons in 2024.
The pop star’s lawyers argued in a lawsuit filed Monday against the Village of Sag Harbor and its police department that release of the video would “devastate” Timberlake’s privacy by revealing “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details.”
They also said it would cause “severe and irreparable harm” to his reputation by subjecting him to “public ridicule and harassment.”
“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 lawsuit reads.
A judge didn’t immediately rule following a Monday hearing in state court in Riverhead, according to Vincent Toomey, a lawyer for Sag Harbor. Instead, Judge Joseph Farneti asked the two sides to confer on a possible resolution and report back later in the week, he said.
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images
Lokman Vural Elibol/Anadolu via Getty Images Justin Timberlake makes statement following drunk driving hearing in Long Island, NY, United States on Sept. 13, 2024.
Timberlake’s lawyers didn’t immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The NSYNC singer-turned-solo artist and actor pleaded guilty to impaired driving in September 2024. Police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol that June.
The Tennessee native told officers he had had one martini and had been following some friends home in Sag Harbor, a former whaling village among the affluent beach towns of the Hamptons, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.
Timberlake agreed to give a public safety announcement against the perils of drunken driving as part of the plea deal that knocked down his initial misdemeanor charge to a noncriminal traffic violation. He was also sentenced to a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service and a 90-day suspension of his license.
“Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” Timberlake said following his court appearance. “This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”
In their suit, Timberlake’s lawyers say they were notified Sunday that village officials intended to release some of the footage, with certain redactions, to comply with public records requests.
They say the total footage runs roughly eight hours and includes Timberlake’s initial stop, police questioning, the administration of field sobriety tests and his arrest.
The Associated Press was among several media outlets that filed a records request seeking the release of the video.
Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella said village officials have carefully reviewed the footage to ensure there was nothing in there that would put police or the public at risk.
“We’re trying to be as transparent as can be with this footage,” he said, noting that the state’s public records law generally requires release of police body camera footage.
Justin Timberlake pleaded guilty in court on Friday, a resolution of a case that started with his arrest in June on drunk driving charges in the Hamptons. As part of the deal, Timberlake had to speak publicly about the dangers of drinking and driving, and in court he said no one is more disappointed in him than himself. NBC New York’s Pei-Sze Cheng reports.
