After Justin Timberlake was charged with driving under the influence in New York last week, heat has been told his wife Jessica Biel has been left feeling deeply embarrassed.
The pop star, 43, was reportedly having dinner with friends in Sag Harbour – an affluent village in Long Island’s exclusive Hamptons region – before he was pulled over by the police in the early hours. Justin was allegedly swerving in and out of his lane and failed to stop at a Stop sign.
Court documents stated that the singer’s eyes were “bloodshot and glassy” at the time of his arrest. They also said, “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 standardised field sobriety tests.” Justin – who was released without bail – reportedly refused to take a breath test and maintained that he only had one martini. Cue a thousand martini memes – as well as appreciation for his hot mug shot.
His next court appearance is scheduled for next month, coinciding with the beginning of the European leg of his Forget Tomorrow world tour. And a source says that Jessica – who is busy filming her new Prime TV series The Better Sister – is at a loss over her husband’s irresponsibility.
“Jessica is trying to stay calm and level-headed about this situation, but it’s impossible as her phone’s blowing up with people telling her how sorry they feel for her,” we’re told. “Despite defending Justin once again, she’s absolutely furious with him and needs space to get her head around the situation and make sure the kids are being taken care of. This is a terrible look for him that reflects terribly on her, too.”
Justin married Jessica, 41, in 2012 and they have two sons, Silas, nine, and three-year-old Phineas. But a year prior to Phineas’ arrival in 2020, their marriage was thrown into jeopardy when paparazzi photos emerged of a reportedly ringless Justin holding hands with Palmer co-star Alisha Wainwright.
Weeks later, he issued a statement on Instagram, publicly apologising to his wife and Silas for putting them through “such an embarrassing situation”. “I’d displayed a strong lapse of judgement – but let me be clear – nothing happened between me and my co-star. I drank way too much that night and regret my behaviour. I should have known better,” he wrote.
And amid reports that the future of his world tour is up in the air, Justin’s lawyer Edward Burk has vowed to “vigorously” defend his client, who is scheduled to appear in court on 26 July.
With the hearing looming, we’re told, “Jessica loves Justin, but he’s humiliated the whole family, not just himself, and the fallout from this is clearly going be felt for some time, which is an utter nightmare. It’s all so ridiculous to her, since the whole situation was totally avoidable.”
In New York, penalties for charges akin to Justin’s include up to a year in jail, a $1,000 fine and the suspension of a driver’s licence for at least six months. Our source adds, “The knock-on effects from this are devastating and could cost Justin millions if he has to cancel tour dates. And the possibility of serving jail time just doesn’t bear thinking about.”