Justin Timberlake's drunken-driving arrest footage shows him failing sobriety tests

Police body camera footage of Justin Timberlake's June 18, 2024, drunken driving arrest, released Friday, shows him failing several field sobriety tests administered to him by a pair of Sag Harbor police officers before being handcuffed and put in the back of a patrol car.

"These are, like, really hard tests," Timberlake is heard and seen telling the officers in the video, portions of which were redacted before its release, which followed an agreement between attorneys for the village and for Timberlake.

He repeatedly apologizes while performing one of the tests, saying, "I'm sorry. I'm a little nervous."

The video shows the former *NSYNC front man holding his hands away from his body when they should be by his sides, move before instructed to do so, stumble and sway. 

'I'm Justin Timberlake'

Footage from another officer's body camera shows a Sag Harbor patrol officer approaching Timberlake's vehicle and informing the pop star that he was pulled over for veering frequently to the left and failing to halt at stop signs.

Upon questioning, Timberlake explains to the officer that he was on a "world tour."

When the officer asks him to elaborate, the singer stammers and then blurts out matter-of-factly, "I'm Justin Timberlake."

The officer, seemingly surprised by the response and not immediately recognizing the international pop star, asks, "You're Justin Timberlake?"

Timberlake then gets out of his rented BMW to perform a number of field sobriety tests.

At one point, the footage shows, Timberlake places his hand on his chest and tells the officers: "Sorry, my heart is racing."

The officers ask Timberlake to walk in a straight line and later to raise one leg at a time but the video shows that he was unable to perform either task.

"I've never done this," he tells the officers at one point, repeatedly asking them to explain the sobriety tests. 

One of the officers then tells Timberlake he appears "impaired, intoxicated."

'Please just do me a favor'

After one of the officers handcuffs the pop star and places him in the backseat of an SUV, the video shows, a woman who approached officers on foot introduces herself as a friend of Timberlake and asks if she could drive his car home. 

"Can you guys please just do me a favor because you loved "Bye Bye Bye" or "Sexyback," the woman, who identified herself as Estee, says to officers, alluding to an *NSYNC pop song and one of Timberlake's solo tunes. "Let me ask him if he wants me to give him his phone."

She asks the officers: "You are arresting Justin Timberlake right now?"

When the officers say yes, she responds, "Stop it. Why?"

One of officers then says: "He was driving drunk." To which she responds: "No, he wasn’t."

The officer then tells her: "He failed every single one of our tests, ma’am."

As officers allow the woman to speak to him, Timberlake asks "Why are you arresting me?"

Multiple news reports indicate that on the night of his arrest, Timberlake was out with Estee Stanley, a celebrity interior decorator.

Handcuffed 'for no reason'

Body camera footage shows officers processing Timberlake at the police station. He's then taken out of handcuffs and sat at a desk, where his nondominant left hand is shackled. He refused to submit to a chemical test to determine the alcohol or drug content in his blood.

Subsequent footage showing an officer filling out paperwork and reviewing it with Timberlake is often blurred and the audio muted.

When officers later ask him if he sustained any injuries, he replies "Only from boys like ... putting these cuffs on me like for no reason."

"But other than that, no, I'm good," he adds.

He's then heard asking officers to explain to him which traffic laws he allegedly violated. When one of them begins explaining that he crossed the median and failed to stop at stop signs, Timberlake says, "Wait, wait, start over, sorry, one more time." After an officer repeats the violations, the pop star says, "OK, well, I was just following my friends."

"I wasn't getting up to any trouble," he adds.

At the station, Timberlake is often polite and occasionally jokes with the officers. He thanks them for providing him water, asks them their ages and tells them he "can't wait to meet you boys in another life."

"I appreciate you boys for doing your job," he adds. "I had one martini and I followed my ... friends home. ... You're young and you're doing your job and I appreciate it."

The officers in turn thank him for his appreciation.

At one point while being processed, Timberlake says to the officers, "You boys treating me like I'm a criminal."

One of the officers replies that they are treating him "like anybody else."

While getting his fingerprints taken, Timberlake asks an officer, "The hell you guys do with all this?" After the officer says everyone who is processed has to have their prints taken, the singer says, "It's kind of fascinating."

The footage ends shortly after officers usher Timberlake into a cell, explaining he will likely be transported to a jail at another local law enforcement agency and remain there until his arraignment the following morning. Timberlake asks for clarification that he would be held “all night” with a wide grin. An officer repeats that he will be held in the cell he’s in or another.

“You guys are wild, man,” Timberlake says.

After telling him he can make a phone call whenever he likes, officers ask Timberlake if he would prefer the cell light on or off before they close and lock the door. He tells them “You can turn it on, man.”

The redacted footage was released to media outlets after an agreement was reached Friday between attorneys for the Village of Sag Harbor and the globally famous actor and musician, court records show.

Court battle ends

The three-page order earlier Friday from acting Supreme Court Justice Joseph Farneti stated that Timberlake's team consented to the release of the footage, with undisclosed redactions. The video's release "does not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy under" the Freedom of Information Act, the judge's order notes.

"From the beginning of this matter, after Mr. Timberlake's arrest, the Village has attempted to comply with the mandates of the Freedom of Information Law," the Village of Sag Harbor said in a statement. "As would be true in any case involving records or video footage from our Police Department, such material is reviewed and redacted to address public and officer safety concerns as well as personal privacy considerations." 

Attorneys for Timberlake did not respond to a request for comment.

Earlier this month, village officials notified Timberlake's trial attorney, Edward D. Burke Jr., that they planned to release all eight hours of bodycam footage from the arrest, subject to undisclosed redactions for "medical" reasons and for the security of the Sag Harbor police complex, according to court records.

As Newsday first reported, Timberlake's attorneys immediately filed suit against the village, its police department and police chief to block the release of the footage, which they wrote depicts the entertainer "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."

On March 5, Farneti issued a temporary restraining order blocking the village from releasing the bodycam footage, including the initial traffic stop, the officer's questioning of Timberlake, field sobriety tests and the pop star's subsequent arrest.

The order gave Sag Harbor until April 9 to submit documentation detailing why it should be permitted to release the footage as part of a FOIL request by members of the media, including Newsday.

But on Wednesday, Vincent Toomey, the village's Lake Success-based attorney, wrote to Farneti suggesting the two sides were close to resolving the dispute, which gained national attention in recent weeks.

Timberlake's attorneys agreed to drop the suit, records show.

Timberlake was driving a 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.

The musician's eyes were bloodshot and glassy, and 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 initially pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated but later agreed to plead guilty to driving while ability impaired by alcohol, a lesser, noncriminal charge after negotiations with Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney’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. Timberlake's driver’s license was suspended in New York State for 90 days.