Justin Timberlake is suing Sag Harbor to keep his DWI arrest video confidential

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.

[From Page Six]

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.

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26 Responses to “Justin Timberlake is suing Sag Harbor to keep his DWI arrest video confidential”

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  1. HillaryIsAlwaysRight says:

    Writing from Sag Harbor, FU JT. If you only had one drink and didn’t do anything wrong, why be afraid of the video coming out?

    • kirk says:

      Amen. Sounds like another donation to Sag Harbor PD is in order.

      Current JT ticket price per Google AI is $50-$500, with average price between $189-$305, so I’m thinking $100 min donation works with my budget.

      Love the fact that holier-than-thou JT, with glazed bloodshot eyes, was not recognized by the young rookie, Michael Arkinson, who stopped him. Looks like M Arkinson was honored as the department’s Officer of the Year last year, for his high arrest # and impact on community. Sounds like he’s a real credit to the community, keeping everyone safe by stopping impaired drivers who carelessly run stop signs and veer outside their lanes.

  2. HeatherC says:

    Intimate details of his physical appearance? Did he do a strip tease while trying to walk a straight line?

  3. Jais says:

    Smearing an officer for arresting someone who was drunk while driving was in really bad taste. I can get why he doesn’t want the cam vid to come out especially if he initially denied drinking. Bc it makes him look like a liar in the immediate aftermath.
    Was part of the plea deal admitting that he had been drinking or not, I can’t remember. If he eventually admitted to wrongdoing though and served out the deal, then releasing the vid does seem Iike a humiliation ritual. But at the same time, it happened. Maybe he shouldn’t have immediately smeared the officer when it happened

    • Jais says:

      Okay, just looked it up and I don’t think part of his plea deal was that he admitted to drinking above the limit while driving. His lawyers got the charges reduced. So this video could potentially show that he was in fact very drunk despite the reduced sentence. That could be a reason they really don’t want it to come out.

      • kirk says:

        JT was required to do a PSA about drunk driving as part of his plea deal. And he admitted he had been drinking at the time of the arrest. But TMZ reported he had refused a breathalyzer test.

        “Many of you have probably been covering me for a lot of my life, and as you may know, I try to hold myself to a very high standard for myself. This is not that,” Timberlake told reporters outside of the courthouse after the hearing on Friday. “I found myself in a position where I could have made a different decision.”

        “Even if you got one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car. There’s so many alternatives: Call a friend, take an Uber. There’s many travel apps. Take a taxi” (Newsweek 9/16/24).

        The ‘intoxicated misdemeanor charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to ‘non-criminal traffic violation of driving while impaired.’ He was required to do 25-40 hrs community service as part of the plea deal.

      • kirk says:

        JT was required to do a PSA about drunk driving as part of his plea deal. TMZ reported that he refused a breathalyzer test. But he reported that he had been drinking.

        “Many of you have probably been covering me for a lot of my life, and as you may know, I try to hold myself to a very high standard for myself. This is not that,” Timberlake told reporters outside of the courthouse after the hearing on Friday. “I found myself in a position where I could have made a different decision.”

        “Even if you got one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car. There’s so many alternatives: Call a friend, take an Uber. There’s many travel apps. Take a taxi” (Newsweek 9/16/24).

        The ‘intoxicated misdemeanor charge was dropped, and he pleaded guilty to ‘non-criminal traffic violation of driving while impaired.’ He was required to do 25-40 hrs community service as part of the plea deal.

  4. Goldenmom says:

    Why do none of these dummies LEARN THE LESSON?

    It is always the cover-up that catches you out. Idiots.

  5. JayBlue says:

    I mean I’m 100% behind the FOIA, but this isn’t really the time to invoke it other than to shame timberlake more. It’s been made clear what happened that night, I really don’t think the video needs to be released at this point.

    • bellatrix says:

      I don’t disagree… but that said, I’d watch it! :0

    • Robert Wright says:

      Why should Justin Timberlake be spared the embarrassment of releasing the body cam video when millions of other drunk people have their body cam videos released? Why should he get a pass when others don’t? Does his celebrity status warrant such extra special treatment? I think if he breaks the law he should just have to deal with the consequences like every other drunk driving a-hole.

  6. ThatGirlThere says:

    Release the tapes!

  7. Meri says:

    I don’t know much about the laws governing bodycam release in that state, but the Morgan Wallen one wasn’t that bad. Embarrassing I’m sure, but Wallen kept it relatively together in front of the cops and the cops gave him kid gloves. If Timberlake is this fussed about it, it honestly just makes me more curious.

    • Jais says:

      I think the issue is that he wasn’t actually charged with drunk driving. In fact, somehow he never took a breathalyzer. He denied the drunk driving and the lawyers got the charges reduced. The released tapes might make it clear that he was in fact very drunk. Idk that’s just a guess.

      • Oh no he didn’t! says:

        Am I the only person willing to say it? Let me get a soapbox out…this piece of work managed to tarnish the reputation of two extremely successful and talented women in the music industry by making himself look like a wounded poor-little broken hearted boy(Britney Spears) and a no idea the boob would pop out (Janet Jackson) dude. Yeah No. Spare me the crocodile tears and release the tape. Everyone needs to see how arrogant this dude is. He forced a young woman to get an abortion because his career mattered more and didn’t speak up when another woman was blackballed from the Super Bowl for an antic he supported. He decided to speak out more than 15 years later when his back was against the wall🙄. Miss me with this one. Grow a set and take accountability for being an idiot and drinking while you were drunk. If not, ride off into the sunset with your ride or die wife because no self respecting woman wants anything to do with you anymore.✌🏽

  8. Tuesday says:

    Perhaps if the video shows behavior that could irreparably damage his reputation, he should have considered that… before acting in a way that would irreparably damage his reputation.

    I loved JT from the age of 12 to…36/37. This was a hard one to let go of. Now? F— him. Boy, bye.

  9. Monc says:

    Nope nope nope … the only reason there’s a video is because you decided to bet behind the wheel of a car while inebriated… all bets are off as we already know the real you…

  10. Sarah says:

    Hahahaha! Re-lease, re-lease, re-lease!! Should be good viewing!

  11. Day Drinker says:

    I can’t wrap my head around wealthy celebrities who choose to drink and drive, and it is a choice. I recently went to a get together with a group work friends from our old job. I took a cab both ways, the cab fare cost more than the kick-in at the restaurant. If a retiree living on social security knows enough to not drive when alcohol is involved what is wrong with these a-hole celebrities?

  12. Jay says:

    I’m sure the footage is embarrassing – that’s a natural consequence when you get stopped on suspicion of drunk driving. Solution? Don’t drink and get behind the whee l= don’t get embarrassed.

    In addition to the public shaming aspect, though, is that JT and his team initially tried to doxx his arresting officer, saying that he was looking for fame or wasn’t doing his job etc. So I think there’s additional public value in showing that no, in fact, not only were the charges reasonable but the young officer had no freaking clue who JT was. That last one is the most embarrassing part, obvs. Again, play stupid games, win stupid prizes.

  13. Pabena6 says:

    “… the officer who pulled Timberlake over ‘was so young that he didn’t even know’ who the Grammy winner was.”

    The unkindest cut of all!

  14. Anare says:

    His lame lawyer argues he was ” “in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement.” LMAO. No, he was drunk and trying to weasel his way out of being arrested. How was he vulnerable? He put himself in that position, no one was taking advantage of him. Then his lawyer argues that “disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion” of JT’s privacy. LMAO again! He has no expectation of privacy. He was in a public place, breaking the law, and anyone on the sidewalk with a camera could have video’d him. The public has every right to see the evidence. That IS how government works and it leads us to the last silly point, that the video’s release served “no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government”. Au contraire! It could be that JT’s video can serve as a PSA, a warning to others. Get drunk and drive and you too can be outed as the entitled little b*tch that you are. Ya play, ya pay.

  15. Flamingo says:

    “This is going to ruin the tour.” When the officer asked, “What tour?” Timberlake replied, “The world tour.”

    That will never be not funny.

    Release the body cam!!!