Pop superstar Justin Timberlake has taken legal action to prevent police body camera footage from his 2024 drunk driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons from becoming public.
Legal representatives for the former NSYNC member filed a lawsuit on Monday targeting the village of Sag Harbor and its police force, claiming that making the video public would “devastate” Timberlake’s privacy by exposing “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details.”
The attorneys further contended that releasing the footage would inflict “severe and irreparable harm” on his standing by exposing him to “public ridicule and harassment.”
According to court documents, “The footage at issue depicts Petitioner in an acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement, capturing intimate details of Petitioner’s physical appearance, demeanor, speech, and conduct during field sobriety testing, the subsequent arrest, and Petitioner’s confinement following arrest over the next several hours.”
During Monday’s court session in Riverhead, Judge Joseph Farneti did not issue an immediate decision, according to Vincent Toomey, who represents Sag Harbor. The judge instead requested both parties work toward a potential agreement and provide an update later this week.
Timberlake’s legal team did not respond to requests for comment.
The Tennessee-born entertainer entered a guilty plea to impaired driving charges in September 2024. Law enforcement reported that he failed to stop at a stop sign in the village center, drifted from his lane, and exited his BMW with the smell of alcohol on him that June.
The performer informed officers that he had consumed a single martini and was driving behind friends to their destination in Sag Harbor, a historic whaling community nestled among the exclusive coastal towns of the Hamptons, located about 100 miles east of New York City.
As part of his plea agreement, which reduced his original misdemeanor charge to a non-criminal traffic infraction, Timberlake committed to recording a public safety message warning against drunk driving. His sentence also included a $500 penalty, 25 hours of community service, and a 90-day driver’s license suspension.
“Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” Timberlake stated after his court hearing. “This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.”
Timberlake’s lawyers revealed in their filing that they received notification on Sunday that village authorities planned to release portions of the footage with certain information blacked out to satisfy public records requests.
The complete video recording spans approximately eight hours and contains Timberlake’s traffic stop, police interrogation, field sobriety test administration, and his arrest.
The Associated Press joined several news organizations in requesting access to the video footage.
Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella stated that village leadership has thoroughly examined the footage to guarantee that nothing released would endanger police officers or community members.
“We’re trying to be as transparent as can be with this footage,” he explained, pointing out that state public records legislation typically mandates the release of police body camera recordings.
