In the same week that Pitchfork vindicates Justin Timberlake’s musical career, rating his debut ‘Justified’ with an 8 out of 10, Rolling Stone reports a delicate situation for the artist. Timberlake is trying to stop the release of the video documenting his 2024 arrest for failing to stop while driving drunk.
The video has been requested through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) by several media outlets, including ABC News, according to an emergency petition filed to block its release, Rolling Stone reports.
The singer’s lawyer filed an appeal on March 2 in which he maintains that the video shows him in “a state of extreme vulnerability” during his encounter with the police, including “intimate details of his physical appearance, behavior, speech and conduct,” and adds that the images also show him during the hours after his arrest.
According to court documents, Timberlake’s legal team argues that publishing the video could “severely harm his reputation,” violate his right to privacy and expose him to “public harassment.” Furthermore, it defends that its dissemination does not serve any “legitimate public interest in understanding the functioning of the government.”
Timberlake’s arrest left an iconic phrase for posterity, “this is going to ruin the tour”, supposedly uttered by the artist during his arrest, to an agent who did not recognize him. Timberlake pleaded guilty to the charges and apologized in the press.
