Justin Timberlake arrested in New York for drunken driving

The man who was once considered one of America’s sweethearts is going through his lowest moment. Singer and actor Justin Timberlake, 43, was arrested Monday night by the New York police for driving under the influence of alcohol. The former Disney kid spent the night in police custody until he was released around 9:30 a.m. when he was seen leaving the police station accompanied by his lawyer, wearing a black T-shirt and cap, sneakers and sunglasses, and with a serious look on his face.

The statement from the police department in Sag Harbor, where the incident took place, explains that he ran a stop sign and “failed to stay in his lane” as he was “operating his vehicle in an intoxicated condition.” No one was injured, and bail was not set. The hearing on the case has been set for July 26, but the artist is not required to appear in court.

Timberlake was arrested after spending the evening at a hotel in the Sag Harbor area, about 100 miles east of New York in the Hamptons — a famous summer beach area for celebrities and millionaires. The singer was arrested after leaving the group of friends he had dined with shortly after midnight, according to local police sources.

“Justin was out to dinner with friends and there were cop cars stationed outside the restaurant, like there are most nights. They look for people who are leaving after midnight who might have been drinking,” a source told the tabloid. “Justin left at 12:30 a.m. and was pulled over as soon as he left. Nobody was hurt and there was no drama at the scene.”

According to People, the singer was on his way to a friend’s house after dining at the American Hotel in Sag Harbor, one of the small town’s historic waterfront establishments. Page Six added that the police officer who stopped Timberlake was so young that he didn’t even recognize the singer — who has been the leader of the band NSYNC since 1995 and has had a successful solo career since 2002. “He didn’t recognize him or his name,” the insider told the media outlet.

Sources close to the singer say that Timberlake only committed a simply a traffic infraction, but the police told TMZ that they don’t arrest a person for a minor infraction. His lawyers confirmed that he refused to take a breathalyzer test.

“The charge was a single count because he refused the breath test,” Timberlake’s lawyer, Ed Burke, told Us Weekly. “Timberlake was also charged with two other court citations, running a stop sign and not traveling in the correct traffic lane.” His lawyers did not respond to questions from the media.

Sag Harbor police issued a statement on Tuesday morning. “On June 18, 2024, at 12:37 a.m., Justin R. Timberlake, age 43, of Tennessee, was observed operating a 2025 BMW southbound on Madison Street, failing to stop at a duly posted stop sign and failing to maintain his lane of travel,” statement reads. “A traffic stop was initiated by a Police Officer from the Sag Harbor Village Police Department and upon investigation it was determined that Mr. Timberlake was operating his vehicle in an intoxicated condition. Mr. Timberlake was placed under arrest, processed, and held overnight for morning arraignment. Mr. Timberlake was arraigned at the Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on June 18, 2024, at 9:30 a.m. where he was released on his own recognizance.”

Timberlake has been married to actress Jessica Biel since 2012, and the couple has two children. A day before his arrest, on Father’s Day, Timberlake described his children as his “greatest gifts” in a post on social media.

Timberlake is currently in the middle of The Forget Tomorrow World Tour, with concert dates until December 20. He is scheduled to play in Chicago on Friday and Saturday, return for a concert in New York’s Madison Square Garden and then travel to Boston. So far, it is not known if he will continue with these concerts.

The singer has also just launched a Tiny Desk concert with NPR. Timberlake — who, in addition to winning 10 Grammy Awards, has also dabbled as an actor in films such as The Social Network (2010) — has acknowledged in the past that he has taken marijuana “to stop thinking” and that he has taken “many different substances” at the Coachella music festival.

Although Timberlake’s career is doing well, personally it hasn’t been the best year for the musician, who despite wanting to lead a relatively quiet life has been put in the spotlight over his past relationship with Britney Spears. In Spears’ memoir The Woman in Me, which was released last October, she said that she became pregnant during their relationship, and that he forced her to have an abortion, which she recalled as “one of the most agonizing things I have ever experienced in my life”: “If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it. And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

Timberlake did not immediately comment on the memoir, but at a concert in February, while singing Cry Me a River — a song written just after breaking up with Spears in 2002, about a man who is betrayed by his girlfriend — he blurted out: “I’d like to take this opportunity to apologize... to absolutely fucking nobody.”

Many celebrities have been pulled over for alcohol and drug-related driving offenses in recent years. Former world boxing champion Mike Tyson, for example, was arrested in 2006 for drunken driving and cocaine possession outside a nightclub in Scottsdale, Arizona. Actress Lindsay Lohan was also arrested for driving under the influence of intoxicating substances in 2010, while Justin Bieber was arrested in 2014 for speeding and driving under the influence of alcohol, marijuana and pills.

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