Justin Timberlake's attorneys temporarily block release of pop star's DWI arrest footage
Justin Timberlake speaks to the media outside Sag Harbor Justice Court on Sept. 13, 2024. Credit: John Roca
Attorneys for pop star Justin Timberlake secured a temporary restraining order Thursday to block the release of police body camera footage of the actor-musician's 2024 drunken driving arrest, court records show.
The order by Suffolk County Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti gives the Village of Sag Harbor until April 9 to submit documentation detailing why it should be permitted to release footage from the former *NSYNC frontman's traffic stop and arrest on June 18, 2024, as part of a Freedom of Information Law request by members of the media.
In the interim, the village cannot release the footage without a court order, Farneti said.
On Monday Timberlake, citing privacy concerns, filed suit against the village, its police department and police Chief Robert Drake seeking a court order to block the footage's expected release.
The footage depicts Timberlake "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," the lawsuit states.
Release of this footage, according to Timberlake attorney Michael Del Piano, "would cause severe and irreparable harm to petitioner's personal and professional reputation, subject petitioner to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest in understanding the operations of government. Disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion of petitioner’s personal privacy."
Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Jed Painter, general counsel to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, weighed in on the dispute, asking Farneti to uphold a 2024 protective order issued in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court that prevented the public release of any footage from Timberlake's arrest.
“Our interest is limited to the important institutional and public policy considerations implicated by the potential erosion of judicial protective orders,” Painter said. “We take no position on the privacy interests asserted by the petitioner. Rather, we focus upon the order underlying the criminal case that is presently before the court, and which has never been rescinded.”
The eight hours of footage, attorneys said, contain the initial traffic stop, the officer's questioning of Timberlake, field sobriety tests and the pop star's subsequent arrest.
On Monday, Farneti directed the two sides to discuss whether they can reach a resolution to the dispute and to report back to him by midweek, according to Vincent Toomey, an attorney for Sag Harbor.
Thursday's order is an indication that an agreement between the two sides had not yet been reached.
Toomey declined to comment Thursday and Timberlake's attorneys did not respond to requests for comment.
Timberlake was driving a gray 2025 BMW with Florida plates south on Madison Street at 12:17 a.m. on June 18 when he failed to stop at a stop sign at the intersection with Jermain Avenue, Sag Harbor police and Suffolk prosecutors said at the time.
His eyes were bloodshot and glassy, he had a strong odor of alcohol on his breath, exhibited slowed speech and was unsteady on his feet, police said. The police report noted Timberlake "performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests."
Timberlake pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated after his arrest but agreed to plead guilty to driving while ability impaired by alcohol, a lesser, noncriminal charge after negotiations with the district attorney’s office.
On Sept. 13, 2024, Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace sentenced Timberlake to 25 hours of community service for the nonprofit of his choice and ordered him to pay a $500 fine, along with a $260 surcharge. Irace also ordered him to issue a public safety announcement.
Robert Brodsky is a breaking news reporter who has worked at Newsday since 2011. He is a Queens College and American University alum.
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