Justin Timberlake DWI Arrest Body Cam Footage Shows the Pop Star Telling Police ‘These Are Hard Tests’

Justin Timberlake’s DWI arrest footage from 2024 has been released despite the pop star’s attempt to block it.

“Guys, I’m just following my friends back to my house,” Timberlake, 45, is seen telling police in the footage after being pulled over. TMZ was first to release the footage. When the officer asks about his vehicle, Timberlake points out that he was in a rental car for a couple of days.

Asked if he’s visiting the area, Timberlake tells him, “Yeah, I’m on tour … I’m on a world tour.”

The officer asks for clarification but Timberlake says, “It’s hard to explain … umm … I’m Justin Timberlake.”

The officer then asks Timberlake for his license and the vehicle’s registration before telling him to exit the vehicle to make sure he was “good to drive.”

The officer performs a series of sobriety tests, to which Timberlake is heard saying, “These are, like, hard tests.”

“My heart’s racing,” the musician adds as police shine a light in his eyes.

Timberlake, who had just left the American Hotel and restaurant in Long Island, N.Y., was in his car, following designer Estee Stanley and her husband Bryan Furst, who were in their own.

In the footage, Stanley asks the officer what’s going on, and later offers to drive after the officer expresses concern about Timberlake. The police officer states that Timberlake was already driving, and they wanted to “make sure” he wasn’t “operating the vehicle under any kind of impairment.”

Moments later, one officer handcuffs Timberlake and another asks Stanley if she has a way to get home, telling her of Timberlake, “At this point, he’s coming with us.”

When Stanley expresses shock and asks why, the officer tells her, “He was driving drunk. He failed every single test.” He then notes that it’s a “private matter” and lets Stanley know Timberlake would be at the Sag Harbor police station until the judge could see him the next morning.

“Can you guys please just do me a favor ‘cause you loved ‘Bye Bye Bye’ or ‘Sexyback?’ Do me one favor,” Stanley is seen asking police after responding with shock at his arrest and asking if she can give Timberlake his phone.

Stanley is later given permission to drive Timberlake’s car home as he leaves the scene in police custody.

The footage was released after Timberlake reached a settlement on Friday, March 20, with the Sag Harbor Village Police Department and local officials, agreeing that a redacted version of the body cam footage can be released, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Timberlake agreed to the public release of a version of the footage that “does not constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy,” per the documents obtained by PEOPLE.

Sag Harbor Village Police filed to “lift the TRO [temporary restraining order] and allow [police] to release” the footage, with the agreement stating that police “may release footage, as redacted” related to the arrest, according to the documents.

Timberlake was arrested on a DWI charge after leaving the popular hotel and restaurant on June 18, 2024. He was initially charged with one count of driving while intoxicated and two citations, one for running a stop sign and one for failure to keep in the lane. The star’s lawyer, Edward Burke Jr., maintained that Timberlake was “not intoxicated” when he was arrested. In September 2024, Timberlake reached a plea deal, PEOPLE confirmed at the time, where he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser offense.

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Timberlake previously took legal action to block the release of the police body cam footage from his June 2024 DWI arrest. On March 2, the singer filed a petition in Suffolk County Supreme Court, alleging that releasing the police body camera footage of his arrest would invade his privacy, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.

“Public dissemination of this footage would cause severe and irreparable harm to [Timberlake’s] personal and professional reputation, subject [Timberlake] to public ridicule and harassment, and serve no legitimate public interest,” the petition read at the time.

Via: People