Our long national nightmare is over: Justin Timberlake’s DWI charge has been dropped.

Earlier this week Timberlake and his lawyer Edward Burke Jr. hammered out a plea deal in which the drunk driving charge he picked up in the Hamptons in June was reduced to a traffic violation. Today Timberlake arrived at the Sag Harbor courthouse and entered a guilty plea for the lesser charge, TMZ reports.

Timberlake’s charge was reduced to Driving While Ability Impaired, which does not count as drunk driving despite the use of the word “impaired.” He’ll have to pay a fine of $500 and do 25 hours of community service within the next year.

After the sentencing, Timberlake addressed reporters outside the courthouse. Per CNN’s Elizabeth Wagmeister, these were his comments:

I try to hold myself to a very high standard of myself. And this was not that.

What I’d like to say to everyone watching and listening, even if you’ve had one drink, don’t get behind the wheel of a car. There are so many alternatives — call a friend, take an Uber, there are many travel apps, take a taxi.

This is a mistake that I made, but I’m hoping that whoever is watching and listening right now can learn from this mistake. I know that I certainly have.

Watch Timberlake’s press conference below.

"This is a mistake that I made."

Justin Timberlake speaks after reaching plea deal in DWI case. pic.twitter.com/8i2w15aL8L

— MSNBC (@MSNBC) September 13, 2024