Timberlake was arrested on a DUI charge in June 2024 and reached a plea deal that September
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NEED TO KNOW
- Justin Timberlake was arrested on a DWI charge in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on June 18, 2024, and pleaded guilty in September 2024
- Timberlake’s lawyers said the release of the footage would “subject” him “to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest”
- Following his guilty plea, Timberlake was ordered to pay a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge and complete 25 hours of community service at the nonprofit of his choice. His license was suspended for 90 days, and he was required to make a public service announcement about the dangers of driving impaired
Justin Timberlake is taking legal action to block the release of the police body cam footage from his June 2024 DUI arrest.
Timberlake, 45, was arrested on a DWI charge after leaving the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, N.Y., on June 18, 2024. He was initially charged with one count of driving while intoxicated and two citations, one for running a stop sign and one for failure to keep in the lane. The star’s lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., maintained that Timberlake was “not intoxicated” when he was arrested. In September 2024, Timberlake reached a plea deal, PEOPLE confirmed at the time, where he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser offense.
On Monday, March 2, the singer filed a petition in Suffolk County Supreme Court, alleging that releasing the police body camera footage of his arrest would invade his privacy, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
“Public dissemination of this footage would cause severe and irreparable harm to [Timberlake’s] personal and professional reputation, subject [Timberlake] to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest,” the petition read.
Timberlake's attorneys, Edward Burke Jr. and Michael J. Del Piano, claim that public distribution of the video would expose the footage inside Timberlake's car, as well as "expose highly personal details unrelated to public oversight of governmental operations."
Timberlake's petition comes after the Sag Harbor Village Police Department, Department Chief Rober Drake and the Village of Sag Harbor received a request for the release of the footage under the Freedom of Information Law (FOIL), according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
His attorneys claim that with the release of the footage, it would reveal "intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details concerning [Timberlake] and his family, and includes information of medical, familial, otherwise confidential nature that is not necessary to inform the public about governmental operations or the performance of official duties."
Burke and Del Piano then requested the court "enter an emergency stay prohibiting disclosure" of the footage.
Credit: Sag Harbor Police Department
His legal counsel requested "an order and judgment" that would prohibit the dissemination of the bodycam footage "in whole or in part" when requested in any FOIL request and by any third party who does not have a court order.
They also requested that Timberlake and/or the court would have the opportunity to "review the body-worn camera footage with proposed redactions to assess the privacy interests." The final request is to grant any "other, further, and different relief" the court may deem.
PEOPLE reached out to Timberlake's attorneys and the Suffolk County Supreme Court for comment.
At the time of the arrest, Timberlake told his arresting officer that he "had one martini" and was following his friends home, according to his arrest report, which was obtained by PEOPLE. An officer observed the singer's 2025 BMW run through a stop sign and fail to stay on the right side of the road, per the report. It also said that Timberlake's “eyes were bloodshot and glassy.”
Timberlake was arrested and taken to Sag Harbor Police Headquarters for processing, but he refused multiple times to take a chemical test. He was held overnight and arraigned the following morning.
In September 2024, he agreed to plead guilty to a less serious offense of driving while impaired after initially being charged with driving while intoxicated. He was ordered to pay a $500 fine with a $260 surcharge, complete 25 hours of community service at the nonprofit of his choice, and have his license suspended for 90 days. He was also ordered to make a public service announcement about the dangers of driving impaired.
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