Did Jessica Biel know what she was getting into when she casually told a magazine that she doesn’t take her kids to McDonald’s? In an interview with Parade, the actress, 43, said that when it comes to feeding Silas, 10, and Phineas, 4 — the two boys she shares with husband Justin Timberlake — the global fast food giant is her big dealbreaker. And, unsurprisingly, it has sparked a big debate.
“I’m like, ‘Sorry, guys, I’m not doing it’,” she said. “They don’t get McDonald’s. I just feel like I don’t know what’s going on with [the] quality of that food. It’s stuff like that that I’m like, ‘No, we’re not.’ Let’s go have a great burger and fries at a fancy place. I’d rather pay more for you to have something fancy than something like that.”
Biel added: “I guess I’m not crazy, rigid and strict, but that would be something that, if they asked me for, I would just be like, ‘Next! Next place. Next down the line!’”
Famous or not, in 2025, it feels like airing any views at all on kids and food is a surefire way of causing controversy. Because, from the moment a baby is conceived — in fact, sometimes even before, since women are even told what to eat when merely trying to get pregnant — moms are judged for their dietary choices.
It reaches a crescendo when it comes to breast-feeding versus formula feeding and baby-led versus traditional weaning — but that doesn’t mean it’s over by the time the baby turns 2. In these days of extreme wellness, letting your kids eat fast food can be pretty controversial. While some families see a trip beneath the golden arches as a rite of passage and warmly recall their own childhood memories of Ronald McDonald birthday parties, others make it sound like they would rather hand their kids a cigarette.
Biel, for her part, is under a bit of fire for bringing money into it. She’s not saying she doesn’t let her boys have burgers and fries; she’s saying she only lets them have expensive burgers and fries. And to add to the awkwardness, there’s the fact that some of Biel’s family wealth is actually thanks to McDonald’s: Timberlake was paid $6 million in 2003 for singing the “I’m Lovin’ It” jingle (although he did later say he regretted it).
So, while some commenters on social media chimed in with Biel’s view, writing “It’s so unhealthy, I agree,” others pulled her up for speaking from a place of obvious privilege: “So here’s the thing, Jessica, some of us are poor.”
By implying McDonald’s isn’t good enough for her kids, Biel was inadvertently shaming the millions of families who happily eat there — whether every week, or once in a while. But, in turn, she’s now being shamed for judging them. Yet again, moms can’t win: if we do what we think is best for our kids, it feels like we’re judging other people. And if we succumb to the lure of junk food, we’re making bad choices.
Ultimately it’s better to keep quiet about your personal parenting choices — but it gets problematic if your kids are invited to McDonald’s by another family, just like it can get problematic if they go for a playdate with different rules around screens, or have some friends who are allowed sleepovers or pierced ears before others. Navigating this stuff is a freaking minefield for moms, and even celebrities aren’t immune to it.
