Justin Timberlake asked a New York judge to block release of Hamptons police body-camera footage tied to his 2024 drunken-driving arrest, as his lawyers argued the recording would disclose intimate details and expose him to public harassment.
In a lawsuit filed against the village of Sag Harbor and its police department, Timberlake’s attorneys said releasing the video would “devastate” his privacy by revealing “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details,” according to the complaint described in a report by the Associated Press.
The filing characterizes the body-camera footage as showing Timberlake “in an acutely vulnerable state” during a roadside encounter and continues to depict what it describes as intimate details of his physical appearance, demeanor, speech and conduct during field sobriety testing, his arrest, and his confinement in the hours that followed.
Timberlake’s lawyers also argued that release of the footage would cause “severe and irreparable harm” to his reputation by subjecting him to “public ridicule and harassment,” the AP reported, framing the dispute as more than a routine public-records request.
A judge did not issue an immediate ruling after a Monday hearing in state court in Riverhead. The AP said Judge Joseph Farneti asked the two sides to discuss a potential resolution and return later in the week.
Timberlake’s legal team did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment, the AP reported.
The suit comes after Timberlake 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 in June of that year, according to the AP’s account.
Timberlake told officers he had had one martini and said he had been following friends home in Sag Harbor, a village about 100 miles (160 kilometers) east of New York City, the AP reported. Under the plea agreement, he agreed to take part in a public safety announcement about the dangers of drunken driving, and his deal reduced an initial misdemeanor charge to a noncriminal traffic violation. He was sentenced to a $500 fine, 25 hours of community service and a 90-day suspension of his license.
The lawsuit said Timberlake’s attorneys were told Sunday that village officials intended to release some portions of the footage with redactions to comply with public records requests. Timberlake’s lawyers said the total footage runs roughly eight hours and includes the initial stop, police questioning, the administration of field sobriety tests and the arrest.
Sag Harbor Mayor Thomas Gardella said village officials had reviewed the footage carefully to ensure nothing would be released that could put police or the public at risk, the AP reported. Gardella said the village was trying to be “as transparent as can be with this footage,” noting that New York’s public records law generally requires release of police body-camera footage.