In June 2024, Justin Timberlake was partying in Sag Harbor while his wife, Jessica Biel, was working in New York. Justin was apparently with some friends and he had a lot to drink. The problem: he got behind the wheel after several hours of boozing at a local bar. A cop pulled him over, and Justin obviously flunked the breathalyzer. Justin was kept in police custody overnight (giving him the chance to sober up) and he was ultimately charged with a DWI. After Justin’s crisis management team tried and failed to smear his arresting officer, Justin ended up taking a plea deal. The story of drunk driving is awful, full-stop. But there was one funny part of the story. Apparently, a visibly drunk Justin complained, mid-arrest, that “this is going to ruin the tour.” When the cop (who had no idea who he was arresting) asked “what tour?” Justin said “the world tour.” LMAO. Well, now Justin is trying to keep the public from seeing how he behaved and what he said during his arrest. Journalists have been FOIA-requesting Justin’s arrest video for a year and a half. Now Justin is suing Sag Harbor to keep the video out of public view.
Justin Timberlake has sued the ritzy Long Island town of Sag Harbor in an attempt to stop the public release of bodycam footage from his infamous drunk driving arrest. According to court documents obtained by Page Six on Monday, the “SexyBack” singer wants an order from a Suffolk County Supreme Court judge to block the video’s release.
The recording, captured by officers during Timberlake’s traffic stop and arrest in June 2024, is currently part of a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request filed by members of the media, per the filing.
Timberlake, 45, argues in the lawsuit that he is depicted “in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement.” The court documents also claimed that the bodycam video captured “intimate details” of Timberlake’s “physical appearance, demeanor, speech, and conduct” during his field sobriety test, arrest and confinement.
Michael Del Piano, the NSYNC alum’s lawyer, claimed the release of the bodycam footage would cause “severe and irreparable harm” to Timberlake’s “personal and professional reputation” and subject the singer to “public ridicule and harassment.” Del Piano added that the video’s release served “no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government” and “disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion” of the pop superstar’s privacy.
The “Cry Me a River” hitmaker was named the petitioner in the new filing. The Village of Sag Harbor, the Sag Harbor Village Police Department and Chief of Police Robert Drake were named as respondents. Reps for Timberlake and the Village of Sag Harbor did not immediately respond to Page Six’s requests for comment.
Timberlake was arrested on June 18, 2024, after he allegedly ran a stop sign and swerved between lanes while driving his 2025 BMW after a night out with friends. Although the singer claimed he only had one martini, the responding officer alleged that Timberlake failed his field sobriety tests. Timberlake also showed signs of poor balance and an inability to follow instructions, according to the police report. He appeared to have bloodshot and glassy eyes in his mugshot. Insiders told Page Six at the time that the officer who pulled Timberlake over “was so young that he didn’t even know” who the Grammy winner was.
First of all, Streisand Effect much?? I totally forgot that the bodycam video had never been released, and I just assumed (at the time) that New York state or local ordinances had different rules about whether dashcam or bodycam footage gets released, especially after someone takes a plea deal. Second of all… Justin’s drunken buffoonery must have been really bad for his lawyers to take this approach. Like, this was probably Reese Witherspoon’s “I’m an American citizen”-level messiness. I also have to say this – Justin has, in my opinion, been really poorly served by his lawyer(s). This Del Piano guy especially, who seems like he’s trying to become famous for representing Justin.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
