Justin Timberlake 2024 DWI arrest video released after legal battle

Local police have released body camera footage from Justin Timberlake’s 2024 DWI arrest in New York after the pop star previously took legal action to prevent its release.

In June 2024, the “Can’t Stop This Feeling” singer, 45, was detained in the Hamptons, a wealthy enclave of Long Island, New York, after officers suspected he was driving while intoxicated. He pleaded guilty to driving while ability impaired, a lesser charge, in September 2024. He agreed to pay a fine and serve 25 to 40 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choice.

A nearly eight-hour video shared by the Sag Harbor Police Department captured the moment authorities pulled the NSYNC alum over with Timberlake telling them, “Guys, I’m just following my friends back to my house.” He then says he is driving a rental car for a few days and is seen struggling to follow sobriety test instructions, including standing on one leg and walking heel-to-toe in a straight line.

“These are, like, hard tests,” he tells the officers in the video. He later says, “My heart’s racing” and “I’m a little nervous.”

After he was detained in the back of a police vehicle, he asked, “Why are you arresting me?”

USA Today has reached out to Timberlake’s representatives for comment.

The initial video released by TMZ in 2024 became a viral pop culture reference due to a comment Timberlake made about embarking on his “Forget Tomorrow World Tour” at the time. He reportedly told an officer that the ⁠arrest would ruin the tour, and the officer asked, “What tour?” to which Timberlake replied, “The world tour.”

Timberlake aimed to stop the release of body camera video

After TMZ shared a video showing the 2024 arrest, Timberlake took legal action to prevent the rest of the police body camera footage from reaching the public.

Sag Harbor officials said the singer sought a temporary restraining order and a preliminary ⁠injunction to prevent the Village from sharing the footage. In court records reported by NBC and News 12, his attorneys argued that the footage is not of public concern and would be an invasion of privacy as the video is outside the scope of his arrest.

“The harm from public exposure–stigma, harassment, reputational injury, and the permanent loss of privacy–is immediate and irreparable,” the singer’s lawyers said in court documents, per NBC. Following negotiations between the Grammy-winner and the town of Sag Harbor, the parties settled on Friday, March 20, to share a redacted version of the body cam footage with the public.

When was Justin ⁠Timberlake arrested?

Authorities with the Sag Harbor Village Police Department apprehended Timberlake in the Hamptons on June 18, 2024, at 12:37 a.m. ET.

Driving a 2025 BMW, Timberlake failed to ⁠stop at a stop sign and “maintain his lane of travel,” so officers pulled him over and found him to be “operating his vehicle in an intoxicated position.”

He was held in custody overnight after declining an alcohol test and was released the next morning without bail. The New York Times reported Timberlake told officers he only had one martini.

Edward ⁠Burke Jr., one of Timberlake’s attorneys, told USA TODAY in July 2024 that the star was not actually intoxicated when pulled over. He said the artist had “one drink in two hours.”

“The most important fact to know about this case is that Justin was not intoxicated and should not have been arrested for DWI,” Burke ⁠said, adding that the police “made a number of very significant errors in this case.”

Timberlake pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of driving while ability impaired (DWAI), a noncriminal traffic violation, in September 2024. This charge is generally levied when a person is operating a vehicle under the influence of drugs or alcohol, but to a lesser degree. Unlike driving while intoxicated, which ⁠means someone’s blood alcohol level is over the legal limit (usually 0.08%), DWAI usually means they tested under that limit.

For a first offense, as was the case for Timberlake, a DWAI charge in New York can result in a fine of $300 to $500, up to 15 days in jail, and/or a 90-day license suspension.

Timberlake’s license was already taken after he refused to submit to alcohol testing, which is an automatic one-year suspension in New York State. He also agreed to pay a fine and serve 25 to 40 hours of community service at a nonprofit of his choice.