Who Is Montana Helena Klein Yao? All About Malik Beasley’s Ex-Wife

Montana Helena Klein Yao first became known through pageants and modelling in California. She became known to a much wider audience through her marriage to NBA player Malik Beasley, a relationship that included two children, a public split in 2020, a reunion, and a second filing that ended the marriage in 2025 according to news reports.

This article sticks to the public record. It covers her background, her pageant and modelling work, her family business link, and the timeline of her marriage as reported by reputable entertainment and sports outlets. Private details about her young children are kept brief, as they should be.

Quick Facts

Early Life and Family Background

Montana Yao was born in Newport Beach, California, and raised in California. Profiles report that her father, Paul Yao, was born in Hong Kong and moved to the United States in 1965, and that he later served in the United States Army. Her mother, Gina Yao, is reported to have English, Irish, and German heritage, and to be an entrepreneur linked to the accessories brand JaggerEdge.

Several profiles describe Montana as an only child, though family details in entertainment profiles can vary, and readers should treat small biographical points as reported rather than as official records. What is consistent across sources is the California upbringing and the Malibu school connection.

She graduated from Malibu High School in 2015, according to multiple profiles. Soon after school, pageants gave her a public platform. That step, rather than her later marriage, was the true start of her public life, and it led directly into modelling work.

Pageant Success and Modelling Career

Montana won the Miss Malibu Teen USA title and placed in the top ten at Miss California Teen USA in 2016. Sources differ slightly on whether the Malibu title year is listed as 2015 or 2016 in short profiles, but they agree on the titles themselves and on the top ten state finish. Pageant success at that level brought agency interest and early brand work.

Profiles report modelling work that included campaigns linked to brands such as Zara, and work connected with Newmark Models. She also built a social media following as a model and influencer, using the name Montana Yao online. In 2016, a rap video connected to her early public profile drew wide online attention, a detail often mentioned in summaries of her pre marriage fame.

Alongside modelling, profiles link her to JaggerEdge, described as a luxury tech accessories brand co-owned within her family circle, with her mother also named as a co-owner in some reports. The exact business structure is not set out in public filings quoted by entertainment sources, so this article describes the link as reported, without inventing titles, sales figures, or company history.

Estimates of her personal wealth appear on celebrity sites, usually in the low millions, but they use no shared method and are not based on public financial disclosure. They should be read as rough estimates only, built from modelling, social media, and family business income as guessed by those sites.

Relationship With Malik Beasley

Montana began dating Malik Beasley in 2018, according to consistent reporting. Beasley is a professional basketball guard who was a first round pick in the 2016 NBA Draft and has played for several NBA teams during his career. Their son was born on March 26, 2019. The couple married in March 2020, with March 5 often given as the wedding date in reports of later filings.

The marriage faced a very public test late in 2020. Photographs published in November and December 2020 showed Beasley holding hands with television personality Larsa Pippen. Montana said publicly at the time that she was blindsided, and she filed for divorce in December 2020. Beasley later apologized in public in May 2021, and the couple reconciled for a period after that difficult chapter.

During the reconciliation, the couple welcomed their second child, a daughter, on November 11, 2022. For a time they appeared together again as a family at games and in social posts. This article names their children only as they have been widely reported in news coverage, Makai Joseph and Mia Love, and adds no private details about them.

The Separation and Divorce Filing in 2025

On March 4, 2025, one day before what would have been their fifth wedding anniversary, Montana filed for legal separation or divorce in Los Angeles, depending on the wording of the outlet reporting the filing. Reports said she cited irreconcilable differences and sought spousal support. Some profiles state that the divorce was finalized later in 2025, while other coverage still uses the word estranged. The safe summary is that the marriage ended through the 2025 filing, after the couple second attempt together did not last.

Later public arguments involving family members and social media posts have been reported by sports gossip outlets, including claims about support and contact with the children. Those claims come largely from one side in public posts, and this article does not present disputed family claims as settled facts. Court records, not social posts, are the proper source for any reader who needs the legal position.

Beasley own career also drew major headlines in 2025 and after, as federal gambling related investigations involving him were reported by national sports news. That is his story, not hers, and it is mentioned here only because it renewed public searches for her name. Montana is not reported as a subject of that investigation in the coverage cited for this article.

Life and Work in the Public Eye Now

Montana Yao present public life, as documented in recent coverage, centers on her work as a model and online creator and on raising her two young children. She has spoken in social posts about the difficulty of dating and daily life as a single mother, comments that were widely shared in entertainment coverage in 2026.

Beyond those public posts, there is little verified reporting about new business projects, and readers should be wary of profiles that fill the gap with invented ventures, addresses, or income claims. Her documented base remains modelling, social media work, and the family linked accessories brand described in earlier profiles.

Her story is often told only through a famous husband, which is unfair to the record. She had pageant titles, agency modelling, and a public following before the marriage began in public view. The marriage and its difficult end brought a level of attention she did not control, including coverage of private family pain. A fair account keeps the focus on what she did and what was actually filed and reported, and leaves her children out of the spotlight as much as possible.

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FAQs

When was Montana Helena Klein Yao born?

Profiles widely report August 5, 1997, in Newport Beach, California. She graduated from Malibu High School in 2015 and rose to attention through teen pageants in 2016.

What is Montana Yao known for besides her marriage?

She won Miss Malibu Teen USA, placed in the top ten at Miss California Teen USA, and worked as a model and influencer, with reported campaign work and a family link to the JaggerEdge accessories brand.

How many children do Montana Yao and Malik Beasley have?

They have two children together, a son born in March 2019 and a daughter born in November 2022, as widely reported. No further private details are included here.

When did Montana Yao and Malik Beasley split for the final time?

She filed again in Los Angeles on March 4, 2025, citing irreconcilable differences in reports of the filing. Coverage describes the marriage as ended following that 2025 filing.

Final Thoughts

Montana Helena Klein Yao is a California model and former teen pageant winner whose life became national entertainment news through her marriage to Malik Beasley. The verified timeline runs from Malibu pageants in 2016, through marriage in 2020, a public split and reunion, and a final filing in March 2025.

What comes next for her will be best judged by her own public work and statements, not by gossip around her former marriage. For now, the respectful summary is simple: she is building life as a working mother after a difficult and very public chapter, and the public record supports that much and no more.

Featured photo: Malik Beasley – photo by All-Pro Reels, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons