Six months after Justin Timberlake was arrested for drunk driving, the pop star is headlining a major festival… in Transylvania.

The “Sexy Back” singer, 43, was announced as the headlining performer at Electric Castle festival, which takes place on the grounds of Banffy Castle in Cluj-Napoca, Transylvania — a historical and cultural region in Romania.

The lineup for next year’s festival, which runs from July 16 to 20, also features Queens Of The Stone Age, Justice, Bicep, Sofi Tukker, and Nilüfer Yanya.
Electric Castle marks the first time Timberlake will be performing in Romania. However, the announcement came as a surprise to many people online, who expressed their confusion over Timberlake’s seemingly random festival gig.

“Transylvania is real?” one user jokingly asked on X/Twitter.

“Damn… that’s so obscure,” said someone else.

Justin Timberlake books headlining festival in Romania six months after his DWI arrest (Getty Images for Audacy)

Of course, some people couldn’t help but crack jokes about Romania’s storied association to the supernatural. Bram Stoker’s 1897 novel Dracula took inspiration from the real-life Bran Castle, thought to be the home of the fictional Count Dracula.

“This bruh gonna come back immortal,” one person quipped.

Unsurprisingly, others were quick to poke fun at Timberlake’s now-infamous quote after he was arrested in June for a DWI in Sag Harbor, New York: “This is going to ruin the tour.”
“This is going to ruin the Nosferatour,” posted one X/Twitter user.

“He better be careful there are vampires there. That could prob ruin the tour,” another user said.

Pale and mortified: Timberlake’s mugshot following his arrest (Sag Harbor Police Department via Getty Images)

In September, the Social Network actor pleaded guilty to one count of driving while impaired as part of a deal with prosecutors in New York, saying he hoped others would learn from his “mistake.”

The former NSYNC member accepted the guilty plea to avoid a more serious drunk-driving charge over his highly-publicized Hamptons arrest. If he had pleaded not guilty and was convicted of the misdemeanor DWI charge, Timberlake could have faced a maximum of one year in prison and a $2,500 fine.

As a result of accepting the plea deal, Timberlake was forced to suspend his license for 90 days and pay a traffic violation fine between $300 and $500. He also agreed to make a public safety announcement about the dangers of drinking and driving, as well as conduct between 25 to 40 hours of community service.

“I found myself in a position where I could have made a different decision, but I’ve had some time to reflect on that and I also understand by the fact that all of you are here that I have a platform, you have a platform, we share that,” Timberlake said outside the New York court on September 13.

“So 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’s so many alternatives, call a friend, get an Uber.”
Back in June, the 10-time Grammy winner claimed to have consumed just “one martini” when he was pulled over for weaving in and out of his lane and failing to stop at a stop sign. The cop who arrested Timberlake was so young that he didn’t recognize the superstar, as the singer reportedly said following his arrest: “This is going to ruin the tour.”

“What tour?” the officer asked, according to the New York Post.

“The world tour,” Timberlake replied.