Singer Justin Timberlake sues to block release of 2024 drink-driving arrest footage
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Justin Timberlake sought an emergency order against the police department to halt the release in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County.
PHOTO: AFP
Ashley Southall
NEW YORK – The village of Sag Harbor, New York, said on March 3 that it would delay releasing footage of American singer Justin Timberlake’s 2024 drink-driving arrest
Law enforcement had planned to release eight hours of footage from a camera worn by officers showing Timberlake’s June 18, 2024, arrest in Sag Harbor.
The pop star filed a lawsuit before that release, arguing through his lawyers that releasing the footage was an unwarranted invasion of privacy that would only serve to humiliate him.
“The harm from public exposure – stigma, harassment, reputational injury and the permanent loss of privacy – is immediate and irreparable,” his lawyers said.
According to the lawsuit, the police department in Sag Harbor told Timberlake’s defence lawyer Edward Burke Jr on March 1 that it planned to release the video of his arrest with appropriate redactions in response to a public-records request filed around the time of the incident. Mr Burke objected in writing, but police officials said they were going to release it anyway.
Timberlake sought an emergency order against the police department to halt the release in State Supreme Court in Suffolk County. However, the judge handling the case did not act on the request during a court meeting on March 2, according to lawyers for Sag Harbor.
However, the Law Office of Vincent Toomey, which represents Sag Harbor, said the disclosure of the video was on hold while officials tried to work out a resolution with Timberlake and his lawyers.
In August 2024, an officer pulled Timberlake over after he drove his 2025 BMW through a stop sign, according to the police. He appeared glassy-eyed, smelled of alcohol and struggled to stay on his feet during roadside sobriety tests, according to the arrest report.
The incident went viral after the police noted that Timberlake had mumbled how it would ruin his The Forget Tomorrow World Tour (2024 to 2025).
He pleaded guilty in September 2024 to a low-level charge of driving while impaired, avoiding a more serious charge. He agreed to pay a US$500 fine and serve 25 hours of community service at a charity of his choosing.
The tour – his first in five years and launched in support of his sixth studio album Everything I Thought It Was (2024) – went on, though the last show in the US in February was cancelled for reasons unrelated to his arrest.
Officials did not indicate how much of the footage they planned to release, nor did they state what portions would be redacted. NYTIMES
