Justin Timberlake Reaches Plea Deal to Resolve Drunk Driving Case: Report
Written by djfrosty on September 11, 2024
Justin Timberlake is moving forward with a plea deal to resolve his drunk driving case, according to the Associated Press.
Three months after he was arrested on suspicion of driving a vehicle while intoxicated in the Hamptons, the news site reports that the 43-year-old superstar will plead guilty to a less serious offense than he was initially charged with this Friday (Sept. 13). Officials have already confirmed that he’s set to appear in Sag Harbor Village Court on that date to enter his plea.
Billboard has reached out to Timberlake’s rep for comment. His lawyer, Ed Burke, was unable to comment at press time.
The news comes a little over a month after the *NSYNC alum pleaded not guilty to a misdemeanor drunken driving charge in an August virtual court appearance, where his driving privileges were suspended by Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace. CNN also reported at the time that the judge had admonished Burke for comments the attorney made to the media about the case ahead of the arraignment.
The newly set plea deal will aim to wrap up Timberlake’s DWI case, which began June 17 after police reported witnessing him “failing to stop at a duly posted stop sign and failing to maintain his lane of travel” while operating a 2025 BMW in New York. The arresting officer added in a court filing that “the defendant was operating said vehicle in an intoxicated condition in that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage was emanating from his breath, he was unable to divide attention, he had slowed speech, he was unsteady afoot, and he performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests.”
Officer Michael Arkinson also noted that the 10-time Grammy winner had told him during the arrest, “I had one martini and I followed my friends home.”
Despite the police reports, Timberlake’s lawyer has disputed that his client was drunk at all at the time of the arrest. During a hearing in July, Burke insisted that the “SexyBack” singer should have never been arrested, saying, “the police made a number of very significant errors in this case.”
Timberlake was midway through his Forget Tomorrow World Tour when he was arrested. Even so, the trek has largely gone off without a hitch, with the performer going on to perform in Chicago, New York City and more locations across the U.S. this summer before embarking on a European leg in July. The full run is currently on track to gross more than $250 million over 87 dates, according to Billboard Boxscore data.