SAG HARBOR, N.Y. (PIX11) – Singer Justin Timberlake reportedly refused to take a breathalyzer test before he was arrested on a charge of driving while intoxicated on Long Island, according to court documents.
Timberlake, 43, was arrested Tuesday morning in Sag Harbor. He was pulled over after officials say he failed to stop at a stop sign and failed to keep right twice, per court documents.
The arresting officer noted Timberlake had bloodshot and glassy eyes, smelled like alcohol, had trouble speaking, and was unsteady. Timberlake reportedly told the officer, “I had one martini and I followed my friends home,” court documents say.
“No, I’m not doing a chemical test,” Timberlake told the police officer, according to the documents.
When asked two more times, Timberlake reportedly said, “I refuse.”
He was the only person in the car at the time of his arrest, per court documents.
The 10-time Grammy Award-winning Timberlake, who released his sixth album, “Everything I Thought It Was,” in March, was released from custody later Tuesday morning, according to the Associated Press. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office told AP that Timberlake’s next court date is July 26.
Timberlake has faced some personal and professional difficulties in the past few years, most of which center on his treatment of ex-girlfriend Britney Spears and fellow Super Bowl XXXVIII headliner Janet Jackson in the 2000s. Back in 2002, Timberlake released the hit single “Cry Me a River,” the song and video of which made thinly veiled accusations that Spears cheated on him, ending the relationship. Spears would later explain through interviews and her memoir, “The Woman in Me,” that Timberlake had frequently cheated on her throughout their relationship and that his narrativizing of her merely kissing someone contributed to the public turning on her.
Among other revelations in Spears’ memoir were that Timberlake pressured her into having an abortion she wasn’t sure she wanted.
In relation to Jackson, Timberlake notably distanced himself from the superstar after her infamous “wardrobe malfunction” during the Super Bowl Halftime Show in 2004. During a performance of Timberlake’s, “Rock Your Body,” he grabbed at Jackson’s breast, accidentally exposing the singer on live television. The situation was a global scandal and while Jackson was essentially blackballed from the music industry, Timberlake was unscathed and went on to have a mega-hit album just two years later with “FutureSex/LoveSounds.”
The difference in treatment for Timberlake versus Jackson highlighted, for many, the elements of white privilege and “misogynoir” still alive in the industry. Though Jackson has urged fans to move on, saying that she and Timberlake are on good terms, historical re-evaluation of the incident and its aftermath have not been kind to Timberlake’s reputation.
Timberlake publicly apologized to both Spears and Jackson in a now-deleted Instagram post in February 2021, saying he was sorry for “the times in my life where my actions contributed to the problem… I understand that I fell short in these moments and in many others and benefited from a system that condones misogyny and racism.”
Despite these attempts to reset (although Timberlake later expressed anger at the controversies and appeared to take back his apology), his more recent musical endeavors have fallen far short of his previous successes, as many pop music fans are unsure what role Timberlake still has in music — if any at all.
The Associated Press previously reached out to Timberlake’s representatives for comment but hasn’t heard back. Timberlake is scheduled to perform in Chicago this weekend, though it’s unclear whether his arrest will jeopardize these dates.
