Handling high profile legal issues: lessons from Justin Timberlake

CEO followers: Justin Timberlake has given a textbook example of how not to handle a high profile legal issue.

Back in June 2024, Justin was arrested by Sag Harbor police in the Hamptons for driving under the influence.

He allegedly drove through a stop sign, veered out of his lane, got out of his car smelling of alcohol, and struggled to walk a straight line & stand on one leg.

A lot of which was captured on the police body cameras.

Not at all good.

In both substance and look.

At the same time, he's not the first superstar to be arrested for something like this.

And unfortunately he won't be the last.

So easy enough path forward, right?

Apologise profusely, accept your punishment, say you've learned your lesson, maybe get publicly involved in some safe driving initiative.

Don't deny it, don't try to hide it.

Wait for those who are interested to quickly move on.

That is not the option JT took.

Instead, his lawyers took an aggressive approach, including suing the police department to block the release of the video.

Releasing the footage would “devastate” Timberlake’s privacy and reveal “intimate, highly personal, and sensitive details”, they said.

It would subject him to “public ridicule and harassment” & cause “severe and irreparable harm” to his reputation.

(As opposed to Justin's actions doing all that.)

Trying to squash a story might have worked before the internet.

But it definitely doesn't work now.

When it's never been easier for people to publish stuff 

And when Freedom of Information laws are common place

It has never been easier for others to find stuff out.

And it absolutely doesn't work when you decide to make your case in an overblown way.

To understand the best path forward, JT should have thought about his relationship with both his fans & the local authorities.

And what resulting actions those relationships then deserved.

But by ignoring those relationships and instead deciding to fight this in such a combative approach, all Justin (and his lawyers) succeeded in doing was to bring even more attention to JT's actions.

I'd have never even heard of the initial incident if they'd decided to just admit that Justin had done something wrong and been collaborative with the local authorities.

I literally would not be writing this post if it wasn't for their combative approach.

So, when you next have an issue (and there will be a next time)

Resist the temptation to get defensive and fight your corner hard

Instead, step back and think about who all you have a relationship with in this incident

And then put those relationships first to decide what you need to do