10 Strict Rules Justin Timberlake & Jessica Biel Make Their Kids Follow
Being a celebrity and a parent can't be that easy.
Tinseltown / Shutterstock.com / Instagram Juggling parenthood alongside a musical or acting career can’t be easy, especially when you've been an A-list celebrity for several decades.
Singer, songwriter, and actor Justin Timberlake, is one of the world’s best-selling music artists with over 88 million records sold worldwide. Jessica Claire Timberlake, a.k.a. Jessica Biel, is an Emmy-nominated actress with some hefty theatrical releases under her belt like Valentine’s Day and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.
While the pair continue enjoying their careers, recently celebrating the completion and release of their Hulu show “Candy”, they’re also the parents of two adorable little children — 7-year-old Silas Timberlake and 2-year-old Phineas Timberlake. We were curious how the couple seems to keep everything together and afloat after so many years, and it’s probably because the parents have some strict rules that they abide by to ensure they raise two capable and successful children.
Here are nine strict rules Justin Timberlake and Jessica Biel make their kids follow.
1. They will learn about racial inequality and teach racial equality.
After George Floyd was murdered in 2020, Timberlake took to Instagram to share his thoughts on the subject and how he was handling telling his son, Silas, about it.
“We try to teach our son to love and to respect everyone — we teach him that all people are all created equal,” he wrote, “And that no one should be treated differently because of the color of their skin.”
Hatred is not something that is born into someone, it’s something that’s taught, and Timberlake talks about breaking that “cycle” and creating a new one that his child will follow.
2. The kids must also learn about gender equality.
In 2018, when Silas was only three years old, Biel started to teach him about gender equality and how to treat, not just women, but everyone around him.
"All the time I talk to [Silas] about, ‘You can’t speak to me that way. You’re being very disrespectful. And I’m not disrespecting you, I’m asking you…’" Biel said in an interview with Bustle.
She believes that a man’s relationship with his mother is very indicative of the way they treat other women, and so she vows to have a respectful relationship with her son.
"He’s gonna hear my words and he’s gonna remember that and he’s not going to treat — this young man is going to respect his mother," she explained. "If young men respect their mothers, and their mothers put boundaries, that changes who they are when they become older.”
3. Their boys will learn about the female anatomy.
When Silas was three, Biel taught him about the female anatomy and decided that there would be no taboo or stigma surrounding sex. At the 2018 MAKERS Conference, she talked about her funny PSA video about female anatomy with Chelsea Handler and how she taught Silas about those things as well.
“We’re using technical terms…we shower together, and [we say]. ‘This is what I’ve got. This is what you’ve got,” says Biel. “It’s a beautiful thing. You have it and mine is different and it’s cool, man.”
Some parents hesitate to talk to their children about sexual topics and are unsure of when to do it, but Biel thinks the earlier, the better.
“We just talk about it. I know it’s really young, but I really believe that if you start this early, there’s no shame,” she said. “We have to respect ourselves and respect each other.”
4. Their family won’t be 'weirdly private' like other celebrity families.
Trying to navigate parenthood while being two of the biggest celebrities on the planet can be very difficult, and Justin feels the effects of it every day. Timberlake and Biel want to protect their children, but not so much that they feel limited.
“I try to be conscious of making sure we can live a life where we’re not weirdly private but we’re conscious of making sure they can be kids for as long as possible,” Timberlake said on an episode of Dax Shepard's "Armchair Expert" podcast.
Biel and Timberlake don’t want their kids to be sheltered or have “the weight of somebody else treating them differently because of something that their parents do.” While the pair post about their kids quite regularly, they almost never show their faces on social media.
5. The Timberlake kids learn that their parents do 'fun jobs.'
In order to not let the celebrity life get to them and their children, they try to make sure that their kids understand that what they do are just jobs that don’t define them.
“The kids at school with my 5-year-old are like, ‘Your dad is Branch,’” Timberlake told Shepard on the podcast, referring to Timberlake's character in the movie Trolls.
Shepard had a similar problem with his daughter regarding how his wife played Anna in the hit Disney movie, Frozen.
“For guys like us,” Timberlake continued, “the hope is that we just keep instilling in them that we got really fun jobs, but it’s not who we are. Hopefully down the road, then that has more weight to it, I guess.”
6. The Timberlakes lead by example.
The Timberlakes believe that the best way to teach their children to be on their best behavior is to simply lead by example. Behave the same way you want your children to behave, and the same thing goes for Silas being a responsible older brother for his younger brother, Phineas — although sometimes he teases the toddler.
“Silas is super excited. Right now, he’s very much liking it,” Timberlake told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview. “But, you know, Phin can’t walk yet or chase him down, so, I don’t know, we’ll see what happens.”
The pair set clear and strict boundaries with their children that teach them to be obedient but ensure that there are lines of communication open to them if something upsets them.
7. They make sure their kids understand what it means to be body-positive.
Along with teaching them about their anatomy, they don’t want their children to be embarrassed about their bodies, Biel said at the MAKERS Conference. They make sure that their children feel comfortable asking questions about their bodies, and also encourage them to participate in physical activity of any kind. In that same interview with Ellen, Timberlake revealed that Silas has grown to like golf and tennis, adding that “he’s fast and he’s active.”
The pair often post about how they work out together, so it’s no surprise that they want the same for their children.
8. Biel and Timberlake's children follow a healthy diet.
Alongside being physically active, it’s important that their children eat healthy foods, which is why she partnered with and co-founded the “farmaceutical” company, Kinderfarms.
"As a parent, I want to find products that are effective and also free of unnecessary artificial ingredients,” she has stated. “That's why I am excited to be a part of the Kinderfarms family, a company that shares the same values when it comes to what we give our kids."
The company’s flagship product, Kinderlyte, provides a natural, medical-grade hydrating sports drink for kids that fights against the dehydration that comes from physical activity. The company has also released Kindersprout, which is an entirely plant-based protein shake made for kids.
It’s clear that when it comes to her kids’ foods, she means business.
9. They don't necessarily have to join the entertainment business.
Of course, every celebrity couple has had to come to terms with the idea that their kids might want to follow in their footsteps. While some want their kids to forge their own paths, others encourage following in the parents' footsteps and help their kids in whatever way they can — the Timberlakes are more likely to be in the former group.
When it was Biel’s turn to go on Shepard's "Armchair Expert," Shepard asked her if she wanted their kids to join them in the entertainment industry.
“My knee-jerk reaction is: Oh God, no. Please, no,” she said. “I would so much rather them be an engineer or something.”
She elaborated that it was more complicated than just entering the industry and there are a lot of negatives that come with that celebrity.
“I think it’s the emotional part that’s terrifying — the intense rejection, the self-worth,” she continued. “I worry about all those kinds of things. I also worry about if my kids want to be musicians, the bar is high. And they’re boys so I worry are they going to be like, ‘I can never be as good as my dad.’”
However, Timberlake hasn’t really had much time to ponder the idea himself.
“Would I want my [children] to follow my path?” Timberlake thought to himself during an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “You know, I haven’t been able to answer that question in my mind. If [they] wanted it bad enough, I suppose I could teach [them] a lot about what not to do.”
10. The Timberlake kids don't open all their Christmas presents at once.
Christmas morning can be rather overwhelming for kids and parents alike, so Biel and Timberlake try to make the experience a little more manageable for all. Biel told PEOPLE that despite not always being at home for Christmas, the family does try to follow a simple tradition.
"I find that Christmas is kind of overwhelming for kids," Biel shared. "It's a lot of pressure. There's a lot of eyeballs on them, and they've got a lot of stuff to do. So, I like to slow-roll it. Sure, open one thing. We don't have to open anything else until tonight, and that sometimes happens for us."
Isaac Serna-Diez is an Assistant Editor who focuses on entertainment and news, social justice, and politics.