Justin Timberlake Fights Release of Bodycam Footage from DWI Arrest

Justin Timberlake is taking legal action to block the Sag Harbor Village Police Department from releasing bodycam footage related to his DWI arrest two years ago. The suit was filed in a Long Island branch of the New York state court on Monday, March 2nd.

The lawsuit aims to keep confidential the footage from Timberlake’s June 2024 arrest for suspicion of driving while intoxicated. He later pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of impaired driving and received a sentence of 25 hours of community service.

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According to court documents, the Sag Harbor police were planning to fulfill a public records request from an unnamed media outlet by releasing eight hours of bodycam footage. This includes footage of Timberlake performing a field sobriety test and being held in custody. His legal team argues that this constitutes an "unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

"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,” the petition states. “Public dissemination of this footage 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.”

While the police have stated they intend to redact portions of the footage, Timberlake’s lawyers express uncertainty about the specifics of what will be made public. They seek an immediate injunction to prevent the release or, at minimum, the opportunity to review the redactions first.

"Once the footage is released to the requestor(s) and disseminated online or through media, the disclosure cannot be undone,” the petition emphasizes. “Digital copies can be replicated indefinitely, beyond the court’s ability to retrieve or control, rendering any subsequent relief inadequate.”

Vincent Toomey, representing the Village of Sag Harbor, told Billboard that the municipality received a request for the video footage under New York’s Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) and “had indicated its intention to comply with the FOIL request by releasing some of the footage, with certain redactions, based upon personal privacy and law enforcement interference exemptions.”

Toomey added that an initial court conference occurred on Monday afternoon before Judge Joseph Farneti, who has not yet issued any formal orders.

Reps for Timberlake have not yet issued a statement.

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