Back in June, Justin Timberlake was arrested and jailed overnight for a DWI. He was out drinking with friends in Sag Harbor, and he got behind the wheel. A young cop stopped him as Justin was apparently driving down the wrong side of the road. Instead of having a come-to-Jesus moment or checking himself into rehab, Justin spent the summer in denial, doing the most to lie his ass off about his DWI. He hired an ambulance-chasing local lawyer and the guy is so sleazy, the judge already reprimanded him. When we last checked in on the DWI case, Justin’s license had been suspended and further court appearances were being scheduled. Well, someone finally talked some sense into him, because he’s taken a plea deal.
Justin Timberlake is focused on the future after a difficult summer. PEOPLE confirmed Timberlake, 43, recently reached a plea deal in his DWI case — and now a source tells PEOPLE that he’s ready to put the legal drama behind him.
“He’s a family man, and this is his focus. He accepted a plea deal because he wants to move on,” the source says. “The court case has been a distraction. He doesn’t want his family to be affected by it.”
The “Selfish” singer — who is married to actress Jessica Biel, 42, with whom he shares sons Silas, 9, and Phineas, 4 — was arrested in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on June 18 and charged with driving while intoxicated.
He’s due in court for a hearing in New York on Friday, Sept. 13, and TMZ and the Associated Press reported that he has agreed to plead guilty to a less serious offense. His attorney Edward Burke Jr. has maintained that the star was “not intoxicated” when he was arrested. Still, Timberlake had his license suspended for a year in the state of New York at a hearing in August, something Burke said was “standard.”
“It’s not like he’s getting off completely — his license is still suspended,” the source adds. “Jess has not been happy about it. She’s encouraged him to accept the plea deal.”
Yeah, as I covered the situation over the summer, it was pretty clear that the authorities had a pretty open-and-shut case, even without a Breathalyzer test. I’m sure they had security footage inside and outside of the hotel bar. They probably had video from the street where Justin’s drunk ass was arrested too, if not body-cam footage as well. The only reason why Justin would take a plea is if he was finally convinced that his ass was going to be convicted. Just goes to show you, you can have your crisis management team leak all kinds of dumb, easily disproven lies to People Mag, but you cannot pull the same sh-t in court.
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Cover Images.
These jerks don’t seem to understand the Court of Public Opinion and actual Court and judge are not the same thing.
Kudos to whoever finally got through JT’s ego to convince him to settle down and take the plea deal.
Celebrity justice once again. If this was Jane or John Doe. I bet the prosecutor would have had a trial. Or a plea deal would have been much more severe than this.
He got a slap on the wrist. But at the end of the day a chauffeur may be the safest for everyone on the road with him if he is in NY. But from what I know they don’t live in NY. So, it’s really not a punishment at all. Other than a small fine and he will probably go on SNL make some booze jokes and all is forgiven.. Like in the old days of Alec Baldwin when he fought guys for parking spots. NBD!
Depending on the laws in both NY and whatever state issued his license, NY may report the outcome to his home state’s DMV, and it may result in a similar suspension there. Not that that makes it any better, but it’s possible.
Still not accepting any responsibility… they make it sound like he’s only agreeing to take a lesser plea in order to spare his family. JFC man! Just issue a statement accepting responsibility for your actions, acknowledging how dangerous your actions were, and expressing remorse. It’s not rocket science. If he’d done this from the beginning, it would’ve been forgotten by now. He needs to demand a refund from his crisis management team.
He shouldn’t have to accept responsibility for something he didn’t do. Continue to grit your teeth as he continues to win.
Hahaha, as if.
Justin, dis you?
POS
Even without the DUI, he was driving on the wrong side of the road and should still have his license suspended. Is this a slap on the wrist? Of course. But I’m glad he and his “team” couldn’t just make it all go away completely.