Justin Timberlake may be crying himself a river if Tennessee law comes down on him as hard as it is allowed to for an ill-advised selfie he took in a voting booth.
On Monday, the pop star and actor posted a selfie of himself inside a voting booth to Instagram, urging his fans to vote in the 2016 election.
“I just flew from LA to Memphis to #rockthevote !!! No excuses, my good people!” the caption on the photo read. “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! #exerciseyourrightovote.”
What Timberlake clearly did not know is that Tennessee implemented a law last year that prohibits anyone from using a cell phone in a voting booth for just about any reason, including taking a photo.
“The Shelby County [district attorney’s] office was made aware of a possible violation of state election law,” the Tennessee county’s district attorney’s office said in a statement to Entertainment Weekly. “The matter is under review of the DA’s office. The law itself TCA2-7-142(B). The offense is a state class C misdemeanor. Any person convicted of this violation could be sentenced up to 30 days or fined no more than $50 or both.”
If Timberlake is found guilty of breaking the new law, he would be the first person punished under it.
Chances are Timberlake used his time in the voting booth, in addition to taking the selfie, to vote for Hillary Clinton, who he hosted a fundraiser for with his wife, Jessica Biel, in late August.
