Justin Timberlake has joked about his "under the radar" visit to the polls after he reportedly broke the law by taking a voting booth selfie.
The SexyBack singer risked a short prison stint and a fine when he took a selfie while he was casting his ballot in his home state of Tennessee earlier this week (beg24Oct16). He had flown to Memphis from California so he could vote in the presidential election early, but his social media snap was a violation of a newly-introduced state law banning the taking of pictures and recording of audio or video while voting.
Justin made light of the controversy when he appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon on Wednesday (26Oct16) by joking how low-key his polling station visit was.
"I recently voted. Super quiet, under the radar," he quipped. "Went home to Tennessee and voted. (It was) super quiet, no one even knew."
He then added to viewers, "Get out and vote but you're damn straight, don't take a picture of yourself in there."
Justin told his good pal Jimmy had no idea about the law in his home state and explained he was just trying to encourage his fans to get out and vote ahead of election on 8 November (16).
"I was like, 'This is going to be great, I'll inspire people to vote,'" he joked before making the sad noise, "Wah, wah wah".
Justin posted the seemingly-innocent picture on Instagram and captioned it, "Hey! You! Yeah, YOU! I just flew from LA to Memphis to #rockthevote !!! No excuses, my good people! There could be early voting in your town too. If not, November 8th! Choose to have a voice! If you don't, then we can't HEAR YOU! Get out and VOTE! #excerciseyourrighttovote"
A source close to the Shelby County District Attorney told TMZ they were reviewing the case but the D.A. herself, Amy Weirich, issued a statement claiming the insider was incorrect and insisting they would not be using their "limited resources" to investigate the matter.
The singer's appearance on The Tonight Show wasn't all serious; Justin and Jimmy revived their Camp Winnipesaukee comedy sketch, in which they portrayed geeky camp kids and sang Ironic by Alanis Morissette. They also tested their friendship with a knowledge game.