Justin Timberlake finally broke his silence regarding the viral photos of her and co-star, Alisha Wainwright holding hands. He took to Instagram to post a lengthy message.

The apology was for his wife, Jessica Biel, whom he is married for seven years. 

Justin and Jessica got married in 2012 in Italy, in a romantic ceremony. They share a son, Silas, together who is now already four years old.

He posted on social media on Wednesday night, saying, “I stay away from gossip as much as I can, but for my family, I feel it is important to address recent rumors that are hurting the people I love.” 

He said, “A few weeks ago, I displayed a big lapse in judgment — but let me be clear — nothing happened between my co-star and me. I drank way too much that night, and I regret my behavior. I should have known better.”

Justin on Instagram continued, “This is not the example I want to set for my son, I apologize to my amazing wife and family for putting them through such an embarrassing situation, and I am focused on being the best husband and father I can be. This was not that. I am incredibly proud to be working on Palmer Looking forward to continuing to make this movie and excited for people to see it”  

Last month, he was spotted holding hands and sitting close to one of his co-stars together with some staff and crew from the movie. It was an outing for the Palmer’s cast. However, there was footage posted by The Sun when her hand was resting on his knee and looked like the two of them were holding hands.

Many have come to his defense and said that the incident was nothing but “completely innocent” and that the two stars are just friends. The source explained, “It’s a balcony with a group of people, and it was nothing happening.

He’s down there shooting [his film] Palmer, they’re starring in the movie together, and they’re cool, and everybody was hanging out. The video may look away, but literally, it was nothing. 

It was some friends, members of the team, crew, and people like that. They all knew each other and were hanging. Like come on, they’re on an open balcony in New Orleans, and he’s famous. It was nothing”

Alisha’s representative also made a statement to PEOPLE and said There is no validity to this speculation.

They are currently working on a project together. Members of the cast and crew were all together.

Justin’s fans got mixed reactions. 

Some were easy to brush it off while others said “Nothing happened is a lie. “, another one slammed “I’m sorry but… you have one of THE most gorgeous women in the world, that is smart, funny and super talented and you have a ‘lapse in judgment,’”

As of the moment, Jessica still didn’t respond and had kept her silence. Sources say that their marriage will survive, and others said that this had affected their marriage.

Read More: Did Justin Timberlake Cheat on Jessica Biel?