Montana
Jessica Biel shares rare glimpse into Montana family life with Justin Timberlake after leaving Hollywood
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Jessica Biel shared a rare glimpse into her home life with her husband Justin Timberlake and their children in rural Montana. Biel recently invited InStyle magazine to her home in the Rocky Mountains, where she posed for photos — including the outlet’s Summer Issue cover — and sat down for an interview.
The 43-year-old actress and the 45-year-old singer left Hollywood years ago and moved to Big Sky, Montana, where they are raising their two sons, Silas, 10, and Phineas, 4.
During her interview, Biel spoke candidly about the challenges of balancing her busy career and motherhood.
“Spending time with the family unit is a huge priority right now, because I’ve been gone, Justin’s been gone,” she said.
Jessica Biel opened up about her family life in Montana. (Celeste Sloman/InStyle)
Biel explained that when she isn’t working or doing press, her typical Saturday involves skiing with Timberlake in the morning and later picking up their children at ski school before hitting the slopes as a family in the afternoon.
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“These moments at this time feel kind of priceless,” the “7th Heaven” alum said.
Biel explained that she and Timberlake split parenting and childcare duties when they are both at home with their sons.
“We’re doing the same thing every other parent is doing: ‘Okay, tennis. You got the tennis? I’ll get the thing,’” she said.
Biel and husband Justin Timberlake are raising their two sons in Big Sky. (Axelle/Bauer-Griffin/FilmMagic)
Biel told InStyle that she feels fortunate to have a strong support system of family and friends to lean on while juggling her demanding work schedule and her parental duties.
“It really takes a village to raise any kid, let alone in a wild business like this where parents are traveling for long times for work,” she said.
The “Sinner” star noted that she and Timberlake strive to ensure that one parent is able to stay home with Silas and Phineas if the other is away working.
“Sometimes we do a good job; we try to have one of us working full-time, only one,” she said. “It doesn’t always happen, because the opportunities arise and the timing is what it is. You just have to take advantage of it.”
Biel is starring in the upcoming movie “Matchbox,” which is based on the Mattel toy brand of the same name. The film, which Mattel developed after the massive success of 2024’s “Barbie,” was filmed in Morocco, Slovakia and Hungary.
Biel and Timberlake purchased their Montana home in 2015. (Celeste Sloman/InStyle)
The actress told InStyle that the timing of the movie’s shoot “literally couldn’t have been worse” as Timberlake was in the middle of his Forget Tomorrow World Tour. She recalled that Silas and Phineas traveled to Europe to stay with her while she was filming the action-adventure comedy.
“We had our incredible [travel] teachers and our incredible nanny and our family helped out,” Biel said. “The kids are good, we’re good, it’s all positive; it’s just when you’re in the middle of it, you’re like, What am I doing?”
Biel and Timberlake’s sons have appeared in photos and videos on their parents’ social media platforms, but they don’t show their faces. (Jessica Biel Instagram )
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However, Biel admitted that finding a balance as a working mom can be tough.
“It’s so hard,” she said. “I don’t do it very well all the time.”
The actress explained how she and Timberlake balance their careers with parenting. (Jessica Biel Instagram )
The Emmy Award nominee went on to share the words of wisdom that she had received from her longtime producing partner, Michelle Purple.
“She said one thing to me a long time ago. She goes, ‘Listen, all you can do is: When you’re working, you’re 100-percent working, and when you’re home, you’re 100-percent home. Do not take a work call when you’re at home with the kids. If you do it half-a–, you’re not good at anything,’” Biel recalled. “That was a good piece of advice.”
In a video for InStyle, Biel reflected on what had most surprised her about being a parent.
“The thing that surprised me about being a parent, and surprised me about myself is that I actually might be the rule enforcer,” she said. “Sometimes. But it’s not really my style.”
“I just sort of thought ‘Justin’s going to be the rule enforcer and that’s the way it’s gonna be,’” the actress continued. “I’m a Pisces, I’m more emotional, gentle, easygoing and whatever, but I’m kind of good at it. I drop a boundary and I’m like ‘Nope, you can’t cross it.’ It took a while to learn that, but it’s an important skill to have.
“And sometimes he can be really soft about things. Which I didn’t expect!” Biel added. “We take turns, and I think that was surprising to me.”
The couple moved to Montana to shield their children from the paparazzi. (Jessica Biel Instagram )
The couple, who tied the knot in 2012, purchased their home in Blue Sky’s exclusive, gated community, Yellowstone Club, in 2015, shortly before they welcomed Silas. Biel gave birth to Phineas during the summer of 2020.
In 2021, Biel and Timberlake listed their Los Angeles mansion for $35 million, but the pair later took the home off the market. The pair sold their New York City penthouse for $29 million in 2022.
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During a 2024 appearance on SiriusXM’s “Let’s Talk Off Camera With Kelly Ripa,” Biel explained that they decided to make Montana their primary residence so they could raise their children away from the paparazzi.
“You get hammered on the East Coast. You kind of get hammered on the West Coast. That’s why we don’t really live there anymore,” she said. “We’re just trying to create some normalcy for these kids.”
Biel and Silas attend the U.S. Open together in August 2024. (Gotham/GC Images)
“We want to share our family with our loved ones and friends and also, we understand that our job has this major public-facing element, so we understand that part of it, but also these kids didn’t choose this,” Biel continued.
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“I don’t want to expose them in a way until they have an ability to make that decision for themself, you know?” she added. “This very social media world is where they exist and where they live and that will be a very big part of their life and their reality.”
“I just don’t want it to be on my account so we try to engage in a way that feels authentic, but also just not, you know, blasting them all over the place and no disrespect to anybody who feels comfortable doing that. That’s just our family choice.”
Biel said that she had a conversation with Silas prior to the event. (Gotham/GC Images)
Though Silas and Phineas have made appearances on their parents’ social media platforms, Biel and Timberlake do not show their sons’ faces. While speaking with InStyle, Biel explained that she and Timberlake often face a dilemma when it comes to how much their children should be in the public eye.
“It’s a tricky one, a tricky balance. We do really try hard not to expose them in a way that they’re not comfortable with,” she said.
Silas made a rare public appearance last August when he accompanied Biel to the US Open tennis tournament in Queens, New York. Biel told InStyle that she had a conversation with Silas ahead of the event to gauge whether he was prepared for the inevitable media attention.
“My son was 9 at the time, and he’s a huge tennis fan — that’s his sport, that’s what he plays,” she said. “We had this opportunity, and we talked about it. We talked about photographers. You know, ‘Are you comfortable with that?’ He can’t make these decisions on his own, but at this point, we can at least discuss what’s his opinion around it.”
The “7th Heaven” alum appeared on the cover of InStyle’s Summer 2025 issue. (Celeste Sloman/InStyle)
Biel explained why she ultimately decided to go through with the outing, telling InStyle, “You really want to give your kids every experience.”
“I don’t know if it was the right decision, to be honest with you, but he and I had a good time,” she added. ‘It’s scary every time. But it’s also their life. And so it’s this really tricky, tricky thing to figure out, what’s appropriate.”
Biel noted that she and Timberlake are also ambivalent over whether they should encourage Silas’ natural talent and interest in acting. “If he was a kid actor, he’d probably work all the time,” she said.
However, Biel told InStyle she would prefer that Silas wait until he is older to decide whether he wanted to follow in his parents’ footsteps.
“‘And when you’re 18 years old, you want to be professional? Have at it. That’s your choice.’ That’s what I would like to hold on to, if possible, for him, you know?” she said.
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Six months before the legislative session is slated to kick off, a group of Republicans in Senate leadership have thrown their support behind a flat income tax proposal for 2027, thrusting one of Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte’s long-term priorities into the spotlight.
A Monday press release cited support for the policy from Senate President Matt Regier; Senate President Pro Tempore Ken Bogner; Senate Majority Leader Tom McGillvray; all the Senate majority whips; and Greg Hertz, R-Polson, who heads the Senate Taxation committee. Regier has requested a bill draft to “lower Montana income tax rates” for the 2027 session.
“The governor is encouraged by the growing support for his call for a flat income tax and looks forward to working with the legislature to deliver on this promise to Montanans,” said Kaitlin Timken, the governor’s director of communications. “In 2027, Governor Gianforte is focused on securing a fair, flat income tax rate to continue Montana’s strong economic momentum and return money back to Montanans who work hard to earn it.”
For the last three legislative sessions, the legislature has slashed income tax rates, moving the top income tax bracket from 6.9% to 5.4% during Gianforte’s tenure. The state has also moved from seven different income tax brackets to two.
Even as members of Senate leadership proclaim their support for the move to a flat income tax ahead of 2027’s session, some have found themselves at odds with more aggressive efforts to slash income taxes before.
During the 2025 session, for instance, the governor’s income tax proposal in Senate Bill 323 was tabled in Hertz’s Senate Taxation Committee. It would have cut the top-bracket tax rate from 5.9% to 4.9%. Hertz told the Montana Free Press at the time the legislation “pulls off too much money, too fast, at the top.” What eventually passed in 2025 in the form of House Bill 337 was a phased decrease of that top-bracket rate from 5.9% to 5.4%, along with raising the maximum threshold for the lower tax bracket, which stands at 4.7%.
Regier cited “momentum” on the issue as the reason Senate leadership has jumped into the fray to back the idea now. He said getting Senate leadership on board included some debate on the issue. But ultimately, there was agreement that the governor’s position was right on flat income tax. Regier pointed to both income tax and property tax cuts as topics of importance to Senate leadership ahead of 2027.
“We’ve had large, large surpluses in the past two sessions,” Regier said in an interview with the Beacon. “I’m looking at another surplus session. We have cut income tax the last two sessions … so it’s, to me, the premise of this — and to a lot of Republicans — is government is not a business. We should only take enough money from the people to operate government, and so we shouldn’t be running surpluses like that.”
During a February discussion with the Mountain States Policy Center, a right-leaning think tank, Gianforte said he hoped to get the state to a 4.7% flat income tax rate. A 2029 biennium report from the Legislative Fiscal Division projects that move would decrease individual income tax collections by an estimated $130 million per year by fiscal year 2029.
In Montana, income tax makes up the lion’s share of the state’s general fund, accounting for 66% of general fund revenues in fiscal year 2025, per a recent historical analysis from the Legislative Fiscal Division. Those dollars fund schools up to the Base Amount for School Equity, state supported public health programs, and salaries and pensions for state employees, among other items. In recent years, the state’s general fund has been flush with cash, in part thanks to higher-than-anticipated income tax collections.
Sen. Dave Fern, D-Whitefish, a seasoned legislator who serves on the Revenue Interim Committee, said several factors have contributed to the state’s revenue growth. In his estimation, those include high in-migration since the COVID days, more wealth in the state with people working remotely and making higher salaries, and more federal dollars going into people’s pockets thanks to pandemic-era policies.
Even so, Fern and most of his fellow Democratic caucus members have long been skeptical of the flat income tax idea. He cautioned that creating and maintaining a tax structure that keeps Montana’s general fund coffers at a sustainable level is important. Fern added he’s an advocate for maintaining the state’s current income tax levels for another two years to gain a better understanding of what Montana’s growth will look like moving forward — particularly as he anticipates changes coming down the pike.
“Beyond two years, do we have the capacity to deal with what we’re doing?” Fern said. “Will that growth rate of revenue, more income, more people moving here — will that continue? And you know, my reaction is, it will be neutered a bit, getting back to a more normal rate of growth.”
He also pointed to the 2029 biennium outlook, which identified provisions of 2025’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act that that could lower the amount of income tax the state collects. And, depending on the recommendations of the School Funding Interim Commission, which Fern sits on, he said the state could be looking at a different way of bankrolling school districts, which he anticipates could have a higher price tag on it than what has been status quo.
“It’s much easier to cut taxes than increase taxes,” Fern said.
For Gov. Gianforte, the same thing Fern identified as a holdup when it comes to a flat income tax rate serves as a go sign.
“The real advantage of a flat tax is once you get there, it’s very hard for future legislatures to raise it, because they’ve got to raise the tax on everybody, right?” the governor said at the Mountain States Policy Center discussion in February. “So, the penalty is higher.”
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Ye (the artist formerly known as Kanye West) is facing yet another lawsuit over allegations of unlicensed sampling — only this time, it’s centered on a video clip of the rapper’s infamous 2013 fight with paparazzi.
In a case filed Wednesday (July 15) in Los Angeles federal court, the celebrity news agency Bauer-Griffin claims that Ye, French Montana (Karim Kharbouch) and others used audio from the headline-grabbing incident in “Where They At,” released in 2024 off French’s Mac & Cheese 5.
The May 2013 video, which also features a pregnant Kim Kardashian, shows West charging at a photographer outside a Los Angeles restaurant and shouting “don’t take no photos” and a string of profanities: “All of you m*therf*ckers stop it, man!”
The clip appears prominently in the intro to Montana’s song — a use that the lawsuit calls “blatant and willful” copyright infringement.
“Given Mr. Ye’s history of numerous confrontations with paparazzi, the video was highly newsworthy,” the agency’s lawyers write in legal documents obtained and first reported by Billboard. “Listeners immediately recognized the audio sample that begins the infringing record as being copied from the video.”
Ye has been sued over a dozen times for allegedly using unlicensed samples and interpolations in his music, including a high-profile battle with Donna Summer. In May, he lost a jury trial over using an uncleared sample in an early version of the Grammy-winning “Hurricane” from Donda. He had testified at trial that he’s “very generous” about giving credit and compensation when it’s due, but that “a lot of people try to take advantage of me.”
In Wednesday’s complaint, Bauer-Griffin says the creators of “Where They At” showed no such respect to its rights in the video of the paparazzi incident, using it despite being well aware that sound recordings must be licensed when any amount is directly sampled into a song.
“In the music industry, copyrights are prevalent and well understood,” lawyers for the agency write. “Every defendant knew that they needed to have but did not have permission to use the audio sample.”
Reps for both stars did not immediately return requests for comment. The lawsuit also names as defendants producers Dem Jointz (Dwayne Abernathy Jr.) and BoogzDaBeast (Jahmal Gwin), as well Gamma, the label that released the song, and its distribution unit Vydia.
The confrontation at issue in Wednesday’s lawsuit was one of two high-profile scuffles with paparazzi that year for the rapper, who was then still known as Kanye West. Two months later, he clashed with photographer Daniel Ramos outside of LAX, resulting in a civil assault lawsuit that the star eventually settled two years later on the eve of trial.
As many celebrities have learned over the years, simply appearing in a photo or video does not give someone any legal rights to it. Ownership of such material is always retained by the creator — an inconvenient fact that has sparked lawsuits against Jennifer Lopez, Miley Cyrus and Dua Lipa.
It’s unclear who filmed the May 2013 incident, which happened outside a Beverly Hills restaurant minutes after the star had also been filmed accidentally banging his head into a signpost while trying to avoid other photographers. But the rights to the footage have been owned by Bauer-Griffin from the beginning: When TMZ first posted it at the time, it came with a watermark crediting the agency.
“The infringing record has been widely distributed on various streaming platforms, in flagrant violation of plaintiff’s exclusive rights under copyright laws,” Bauer-Griffin’s attorneys write. “Plaintiff brings these claims to vindicate those rights.”
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