Cop who arrested Justin Timberlake had no clue who he was: 'This is going to ruin the tour' (2024)

The officer that arrested pop star Justin Timberlake for allegedly driving under the influence in a village in New York’s Hamptons is apparently not a music fan.

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Timberlake, a 10-time Grammy winner, was driving a 2025 BMW in Sag Harbor around 12:30 a.m. when an officer stopped him and determined he was intoxicated, according to a court document reviewed by the Associated Press.

But in what must be considered a big blow to the singer’s ego, an insider tells Page Six the cop “was so young that he didn’t even know” who Timberlake was.

“He didn’t recognize him or his name,” the source tells the outlet.

A second insider adds, “Justin said under his breath, ‘This is going to ruin the tour.’ The cop replied, ‘What tour?’ Justin said, ‘The world tour.’”

Timberlake, 43, who listed his occupation as “professional” and said he’s “self-employed,” denied being drunk and told authorities he had drank one martini and was following some friends back home.

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According to court documents, the arresting officer observed that Timberlake’s eyes were “bloodshot and glassy, a strong odour 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.”

In addition to being charged for driving while intoxicated, Timberlake is also accused of running a stop sign and failing to stay in his correct lane of travel.

When at the station, Timberlake reportedly refused to take a breathalyzer test.

“No, I’m not doing a chemical test,” the Cry Me a River singer said (per Us Weekly). When asked again, Timberlake responded, “I refuse (to take a chemical test).”

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A source told the Daily Mail the musician was dining with friends at the American Hotel and restaurant in Long Island before being arrested.

“Justin was out to dinner with friends and there were cop cars stationed outside the restaurant, like there are most nights,” they said. “They look for people who are leaving after midnight who might have been drinking. Justin left at 12:30 a.m. and was pulled over as soon as he left. Nobody was hurt and there was no drama at the scene.”

Timberlake was kept in jail overnight and another source told PEOPLE that during his arraignment the onetime member of boy band NSYNC was handcuffed “with his hands in front of him.”

“He did seem a bit upset,” the source said. “Jessica (Biel, his wife) was not with him.”

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Music legend Billy Joel, who owns a home in Sag Harbor, was spotted outside the American Hotel the following day.

“Judge not lest ye be judged,” the Piano Man crooner told WPIX, politely declining to comment on Timberlake’s legal woes.

The arrest came during a break in Timberlake’s Forget Tomorrow World Tour, which is in support of his latest album, Everything I Thought It Was. But it is yet another hiccup in the vocalist’s personal life.

Last year, Timberlake made headlines when Britney Spears alleged in her memoir, The Woman in Me, that he made her get an abortion when they dated more than 20 years ago.

“It was a surprise, but for me, it wasn’t a tragedy. I loved Justin so much. I always expected us to have a family together one day. This would just be much earlier than I’d anticipated,” Spears wrote of the pregnancy in an excerpt from the book obtained byPEOPLE. “But Justin definitely wasn’t happy about the pregnancy. He said we weren’t ready to have a baby in our lives, that we were way too young.”

Spears went on to add that looking back, she wasn’t sure it was “the right decision.”

“If it had been left up to me alone, I never would have done it,” she writes. “And yet Justin was so sure that he didn’t want to be a father.”

Following Timberlake’s arrest, Spears seemingly threw shade at her ex when she shared an Instagram post toasting the “little things in life.”

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Spears alsouploaded a videoin her “first co*cktail dress ever.”

Meanwhile, Timberlake’s tour has been hit with slow ticket sales with some speculating that the star has lost currency with younger music listeners.

“Most of (Timberlake’s) fans have aged out of caring about him. It’s like the old saying goes, ‘You don’t retire – the audience retires you,’” music journalist ToureofTheGriotoldPaula Froelich of NewsNation.

Timberlake’s latest album also landed with a thud. After its release in March, not one of the record’s singles were among Spotify’s 200 most-streamed tracks. He didn’t fare much better on Billboard, where Everything I Thought It Was sold a paltry 67,000 copies in its first week of release — the lowest of his career.

The soloist’s next court date is scheduled for July 26.

mdaniell@postmedia.com

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