Gayle King Defends Justin Timberlake Following His DWI Arrest

Gayle King is standing by Justin Timberlake.

After the singer was arrested for allegedly driving while intoxicated June 18, the journalist came to the defense of Justin's character.

"Justin Timberlake is a really, really great guy," Gayle said on the June 19 episode of CBS Mornings. "Listen, this is clearly a mistake. "

When cohost Nate Burleson called it a "stupid mistake," the 69-year-old agreed.

"Exactly—and he knows that," she continued. "But he's not an irresponsible person. He's not reckless. He's not careless. Clearly, this is not a good thing. He knows that."

Paraphrasing what Billy Joel told PIX11 when asked about Justin's arrest, Gayle added, "I love when they stopped Billy Joel and Billy Joel said, ‘You know, wait. Not everybody judge at this particular time.'"

Still, she made it clear that, "Driving drunk, there's never any excuse for that ever."

And when Nate pointed out the DWI is still an allegation against Justin, Gayle conceded, "It's alleged. But based on what the officer saw there, it's not good."

Justin was arrested on suspicion of intoxicated driving in Sag Harbor, New York in the early hours of June 18, according to NBC News. Per a criminal complaint obtained by the outlet, the 10-time Grammy winner was initially pulled over for driving through a stop sign and not staying on the right side of the road. 

After police spoke to Justin, the complaint continued per NBC News, it was "ascertained that the defendant was operating said vehicle in an intoxicated condition in that his eyes were bloodshot and glassy, a strong odor 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."

According to NBC News, police said Justin declined to be tested for impairment and that the *NSYNC alum told an officer he had "one martini" before he followed friends home.   

After Justin's arrest, police told the outlet he was arraigned and released without need to post bail. Officials added to NBC News that the "Mirrors" artist pleaded not guilty and that his court date is scheduled for July 26.

A source close to the situation told E! News Justin had been out to dinner with friends on June 17.

"As he left the restaurant, there was a patrol car seemingly stationed near the restaurant," the insider shared about the 43-year-old, who is in the middle of his world tour and scheduled to perform in Chicago June 21. "He was stopped and, was arrested. Nobody was hurt."

Meanwhile, an attorney for Justin has spoken out about the incident. 

"I look forward to vigorously defending Mr. Timberlake on these allegations," lawyer Edward Burke Jr. told E!. "I will have a lot to say at the appropriate time but am currently awaiting full discovery from the District Attorney's office." 

(E! and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family).

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