Justin Timberlake is missing a chance to redeem…
Once again, Justin Timberlake is displaying us why he is, as he once described himself, “hard to love.”
The singer, who was busted for drunk driving in Sag Harbor 2024 and pleaded down to a lesser charge of driving while impaired, is now suing the village — an attempt to forestall police bodycam footage of the arrest from being made public after members of the media filed a FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) request for its release.
In the lawsuit, Timberlake’s attorney argued “disclosure of this footage would constitute an unwarranted invasion” of the singer’s privateness.
Justin Timberlake, who was busted for drunk driving in Sag Harbor 2024 and pleaded down to a lesser charge of driving while impaired, is now suing the village — an attempt to forestall police bodycam footage from the arrest from being made public. AP
Court paperwork also say the video may also do “severe and irreparable harm” to Timberlake’s “personal and professional reputation” and subject the singer to “public ridicule and harassment.”
Cry. Me. A. River.
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He is aware of he’ll appear to be a first-class idiot because he refused a breathalyzer and, reportedly, complained to the officer that an arrest would “ruin” his world tour.
There is an different to all this, but it will require humility.
Fighting the video’s release brings far more consideration to its existence. It also underscores Timberlake’s staggering self-importance — the idea that he needs to be spared public disgrace while many of his fellow celebrities have suffered a related destiny for such a harmful lapse in judgement.
Timberlake’s lawsuit claims the arrest footage may also do “severe and irreparable harm” to his “personal and professional reputation” and subject the singer to “public ridicule and harassment.” Getty Images
What makes him better than the likes of Mary Lou Retton, ex-quarterback Jay Cutler, Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods or any other well-known individual whose busts from driving impaired have been broadcast on the web?
The legal demand also hollows out the apology Timberlake made at a press convention after he was ordered to carry out 25 hours of neighborhood service.
“This is a mistake that I made, but I am hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake,” he said at the time.
I believe Timberlake — whose repute has taken a battering over the last few years after unflattering disclosures by his troubled ex Britney Spears — ought to really use the video as a public service.
Justin Timberlake’s mug shot from his arrest in June 2024. Sag Harbor PD
Don’t combat its release. Own it. Say, “Don’t be like this jerk, who could have killed someone.”
After all, we just had a poignant reminder of what’s at stake.
Just a little over a week in the past, we had been all celebrating the gold medal win of the boys’s US hockey group. After the win, gamers held up the jersey of Johnny Gaudreau, the Blue Jackets winger who, along with his brother Matthew, died when their bikes had been hit by an alleged drunk driver in August 2024.
There was not a dry eye as two of Johnny’s younger children had been welcomed to the ice.
Amid all the media coverage, there was a shortage of a simple but important message: Two males had been killed so unnecessarily. So senselessly.
After profitable the gold medal last month, Team USA gamers introduced Johnny Gaudreau’s daughter, Noa, onto the ice. Gaudreau and his brother had been killed while biking, after being hit by an allegedly drunk driver. AP
The group also introduced out Gaudreau’s son Johnny. AP
But their sister Katie Gaudreau reminded us. After all, they had been killed on the eve of her wedding ceremony, turning what ought to have been a joyous household event into a unspeakable nightmare.
Posting a photograph of Team USA’s Dylan Larkin and Zach Werenski skating to her brother’s kids, she wrote on Instagram: “Here’s your reminder not to drink and drive.”
“Think about my two amazing brothers and their four children who were robbed of happiness and moments they’ll never get back because someone couldn’t stay home instead of drinking and getting behind the wheel,” she added.
“Tomorrow will be another day we have to walk into court and face this nightmare. [Relive] that terrible night. Make the decision do the right thing.”
Thankfully, Timberlake didn’t bodily hurt anybody. He was tremendous fortunate that night time when he obtained behind the wheel.
Katie Gaudreau, who misplaced her brothers Johnny and Matthew to an alleged drunk driver, used the Team USA win to remind people not to drink and drive. Katie Gaudreau/ Instagram
Johnny Gaudreau was a winger for the Blue Jackets, while his brother Matthew had been in the AHL. Getty Images
But drunk driving is horrifically silly, particularly in the age of journey shares — which ought to have made the harmful follow extinct.
For a celeb who has the access and means to have a non-public driver, it’s notably unforgivable.
It’s also handled far too casually.
People make errors, and needs to be granted grace. But it’s also telling how one acts after a transgression. And Timberlake, who obtained just a slap on the wrist, continues to show that he thinks he’s above the implications.
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