Justin Timberlake is missing a great chance to not look like a jerk

Once again, Justin Timberlake is showing 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 prevent 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 privacy.Court documents also say the video could 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.

He knows he’ll look like a first-class fool because he refused a breathalyzer and, reportedly, complained to the officer that an arrest would “ruin” his world tour.There is an alternative to all this, but it would require humility.Fighting the video’s release brings far more attention to its existence.It also underscores Timberlake’s staggering self-importance — the belief that he should be spared public shame while many of his fellow celebrities have suffered a similar fate for such a dangerous lapse in judgement.What makes him better than the likes of Mary Lou Retton, ex-quarterback Jay Cutler, Mel Gibson, Tiger Woods or any other famous person whose busts from driving impaired have been broadcast on the internet?The legal demand also hollows out the apology Timberlake made at a press conference after he was ordered to perform 25 hours of community 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 think Timberlake — whose reputation has taken a battering over the last few years after unflattering disclosures by his troubled ex Britney Spears —...