A judge suspended Justin Timberlake’s license and threatened to impose a gag order on his lawyer during at a court hearing on Friday, coming weeks after the singer was arrested after he was pulled over during stop in New York state.
Timberlake, 43, appeared virtually for the court proceedings in the Sag Harbor Village Justice Court in New York, according to court reporters. He pleaded not guilty to driving while intoxicated.
Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace suspended Timberlake’s Tennessee driver’s license in New York state and threatened to impose a gag order on his lawyer, Edward Burke, saying the attorney’s comments to the media have been inappropriate. Timberlake appeared at the hearing virtually on Friday as he was touring in Antwerp, Belgium.
“It comes off as an attempt to poison the case before it even begins,” the judge told the attorney, referring to his comments, according to reporters.
Irace set a next court date for Aug. 9.
During the arrest, police said he drove through a stop sign and also swerved into a separate lane after leaving a hotel in Sag Harbor at around 12:30 a.m., according to an arrest report.
“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,” it stated.
The pop superstar told the officer that he had one martini and was following friends home, according to the charging papers.
“Mr. Timberlake was placed under arrest, processed and held overnight for morning arraignment,” the police department said in a statement at the time. “Mr. Timberlake was arraigned at the Sag Harbor Valley Justice Center on June 18, 2024, at 9:30 a.m., where he was released on his own recognizance.”
After he was arrested, Timberlake was held overnight by police. His mugshot was also taken.
Last week, Timberlake’s lawyer said after a hearing that his client was not driving drunk during the traffic stop. “He was not intoxicated,” he told reporters outside court. “I’ll say it again. Justin Timberlake was not intoxicated.”
He also said at the time that Timberlake respects law enforcement and cooperated with police officers during the arrest. The attorney added that the charge will likely be dismissed.
Timberlake had appeared in court in person previously but his arraignment needed to be repeated because of a paperwork oversight. Burke said the original charging document lacked a police sergeant’s signature. Assistant District Attorney Ashley Cangro said new documents were filed July 2 to address that flaw.
The 10-time Grammy winner began performing as a young Disney Mouseketeer, rose to fame as part of the boy band NSYNC and embarked on a solo recording career in the early 2000s.
