Justin Timberlake has initiated legal action to prevent the public release of police body camera footage stemming from his 2024 drunken driving arrest in New York’s Hamptons.
The lawsuit, filed Monday against the Village of Sag Harbor and its police department, contends that making the video public would inflict "severe and irreparable harm" on his reputation.
His legal team asserts that the footage would "devastate" Timberlake's privacy by revealing "intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details," subjecting him to "public ridicule and harassment."
The filing further details that the video captures the singer in an "acutely vulnerable state during a roadside encounter with law enforcement," documenting "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."
A judge didn't immediately rule following a Monday hearing in state court in Riverhead, according to Vincent Toomey, a lawyer for Sag Harbor. Instead, Judge Joseph Farneti asked the two sides to confer on a possible resolution and report back later in the week, he said.
Timberlake's lawyers didn't immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
The NSYNC singer-turned-solo artist and actor pleaded guilty to impaired driving in September 2024. Police said he ran a stop sign in the village center, veered out of his lane and got out of his BMW smelling of alcohol that June.
The Tennessee native told officers he had had one martini and had been following some friends home in Sag Harbor, a former whaling village among the affluent beach towns of the Hamptons, some 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City.
Timberlake agreed to give a public safety announcement against the perils of drunken driving as part of the plea deal that knocked down his initial misdemeanor charge to a noncriminal traffic violation. He was also sentenced to a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service and a 90-day suspension of his license.
“Even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car,” Timberlake said following his court appearance. “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.”
In their suit, Timberlake’s lawyers say they were notified Sunday that village officials intended to release some of the footage, with certain redactions, to comply with public records requests.
They say the total footage runs roughly eight hours and includes Timberlake's initial stop, police questioning, the administration of field sobriety tests and his arrest.
The Associated Press was among several media outlets that filed a records request seeking the release of the video.
Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella said village officials have carefully reviewed the footage to ensure there was nothing in there that would put police or the public at risk.
“We're trying to be as transparent as can be with this footage,” he said, noting that the state's public records law generally requires release of police body camera footage.
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