Justin Timberlake's license suspended at DWI hearing, pleads not guilty

Pop star Justin Timberlake pleaded not guilty on Friday to a charge of driving while intoxicated after being arrested in June in Sag Harbor, New York, where police spotted him failing to obey a stop sign and veering off lane.

Sag Harbor Village Justice Carl Irace suspended his driving privileges in the state of New York, the court said, pending his next hearing on August 9.

The hearing was virtual. Timberlake was on a world tour in Europe to support his most recent album, "Everything I Thought It Was."

NBC News reports that during the hearing, the judge threatened Timberlake's attorney, Edward Burke, with a gag order following comments he made to the press after the previous hearing on July 26. Irace said Burke's remarks came off as "an attempt to poison the case before it even begins."

In July, Burke said the singer was not intoxicated and should not have been arrested.

"The police made a number of very significant errors in this case," he told the media. "We are very confident that that charge, the criminal charge, will be dismissed."

Timberlake, 43, was arrested on June 18 in Sag Harbor, Long Island, shortly after midnight while driving a 2025 grey BMW.

When stopped by police, 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 was unsteady afoot and performed poorly on all standardized field sobriety tests," court documents said.

Timberlake told the officer he had had one martini before driving and refused to take a breathalyzer test.