Before they could talk about his new animated film Trolls, Justin Timberlake had to address the elephant in the room with his friend Jimmy Fallon. “What have you been up to?” the Tonight Show host asked, innocently. “We never talk.”
“I recently voted,” Timberlake said to cheers from the audience. “Super quiet, under the radar.”
He was referring to the selfie he posted to Instagram from a Tennessee voting booth this week that briefly caused a national meltdown in the world of celebrity media. As it turns out, using your phone to record any imagery within a polling place is illegal in Timberlake’s home state, with a maximum penalty of 30 days in jail and a $50 fine. In a statement to the press, the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office initially said the incident was “under review.”
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“I didn’t hear that, you voted early?” Fallon joked. “In Tennessee?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, went home to Tennessee and voted. Super quiet, in and out,” Timberlake said. “No one even knew.”
With that, Timberlake turned to the camera and gave some advice to all of his fans watching at home. “Get out and vote,” he told them. “Damn straight. But don’t take a picture of yourself in there.”
“I had no idea!” he added. “I thought, this is going to be great! Inspire people to vote! Nope.”
Earlier in the day Wednesday, authorities clarified that they had no intention to hold Timberlake accountable for sharing the image online. “No one in our office is currently investigating this matter nor will we be using our limited resources to do so,” the statement read.
Timberlake has since deleted the photo from his Instagram account.
