Bodycam footage of Justin Timberlake’s 2024 DWI arrest has been made public after the star attempted to block its release.
The incident occurred in Sag Harbor, a village in the Hamptons in New York, on June 18, 2024. The municipality released the footage in response to a Freedom of Information request made by The Sag Harbor Express.
Attorneys for Timberlake, 45, tried to stop the release earlier this month, stating “the harm from public exposure—stigma, harassment, reputational injury, and the permanent loss of privacy is immediate and irreparable."
Justin Timberlake’s mugshot went instantly viral after his arrest on June 18.
Sag Harbor Police DepartmentThe lawyers tried to persuade the courts to grant the ex-NSYNC member an exception to New York’s Freedom of Information Law, which states that body camera footage can be made available to the public upon request.
The videos were made public after Timberlake’s attorneys reached an agreement with Sag Harbor Police to redact parts of the footage.
The Daily Beast reached out to representatives for Timberlake for comment.
One video shows Timberlake speaking to a police officer after being pulled over. The cop is heard saying that the “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” singer had been “veering off to the left and you’re not stopping at stop signs.” Timberlake explained that he was only renting his car for “a couple days” while visiting the Hamptons in the middle of his tour.
“I’m on a world tour,” Timberlake says in response to the officer’s question about his reason for being in town.
“A what?” the cop asks.
“A world tour,” Timberlake repeats.
“Doing what?” the cop, not appearing to recognize the celebrity, asks again.
“Um, hard to explain,” the pop star says, slightly slurring. “Um, a world tour. I’m Justin Timberlake.”
“You are Justin Timberlake?” the officer questions. “You have a license with you?”
At the time of his arrest, it was widely reported that Timberlake stated this was “going to ruin the tour,” sparking memes across the internet.
In the video, once the former boyband member proved that he was in fact Justin Timberlake, the police officer asked him for the car’s registration and the address he was staying at. The cop then asked Timberlake to step out of the vehicle to do field sobriety tests.
Another video shows the officer checking Timberlake’s eyes as another cop arrives at the scene. The singer then performs a walk-and-turn test, which involves a driver taking nine heel-to-toe steps, turning around, and repeating the steps. He finishes the assessment with a one-leg stand, which requires the driver to lift a foot six inches off the ground and hold the pose for 30 seconds.
Timberlake appears to struggle with the tests, apologizing and asking the officer to repeat instructions multiple times. At one point, he seems to reason with the officers, explaining that he just wanted to follow a friend back to his rental home.
“I’m not doing anything,” the “Cry Me a River” singer says with his hands up. “I’m just following my friends back to my house.”
Unmoved, the officer asks him to complete the tests, and Timberlake complies. After finishing them, the singer says, “These are really hard tests.” He also refuses a breathalyzer. The officer eventually handcuffs and arrests Timberlake because, as his partner says, “he failed every single one of these tests.”
Timberlake pleaded guilty to impaired driving in September 2024 after previously insisting that he only had “one martini” before his fateful drive.
“I try to hold myself to a very high standard for myself, and this was not that,” he said after his hearing. He added: “Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car.”
As a consequence of refusing a breathalyzer, his New York driver’s license was suspended. He was ordered to pay a $500 fine, do 25-40 hours of community service, and make a PSA about drunk driving as part of his penance.
