Since the days of double denim, Britney Spears, and Nipplegate (sorry, Janet Jackson), Justin Timberlake has done a reasonably good job of staying out of the tabloids.

Nowadays it’s mostly his Halloween costumes that get a lot of press attention.

Then he decided to have a few drinks with the cast of his upcoming film, Palmer, and a crafty tabloid videographer nearby caught him sort-of holding hands with actress Alisha Wainwright.

The CUT with more:

The images show Wainwright, who also stars in the Netflix series Raising Dion, resting her hand across Timberlake’s leg. “At one stage he grabbed her hand and rested it on his knee. She then gently started stroking his leg,” a source told The Sun.

“Then he clutched her hand with both of his and was playing with her hands.”

He was also apparently seen without his wedding ring. Sources said that the 38-year-old actor had been “drinking heavily and was unsteady on his feet.”

The alleged handholding kicks off at around 39 seconds into the footage below, where you can see some hand on leg action, but if you want to watch a very drunk Timberlake sway in his chair before that happens, be my guest:

That looks like standard drunk person behaviour to me. Wainwright has also subsequently addressed the rumours, claiming that nothing is going on.

A closer look:

Yep, still looks like standard drunken affection.

I’m sure Justin and Jessica’s marriage will survive.

[source:thecut]