Dax Shepard recently disclosed that he was completely oblivious to the intense backlash stemming from a contentious Instagram post by his wife, Kristen Bell, regarding their marriage.
In October, the actress stirred controversy when she posted a message in honor of their 12th wedding anniversary.
In the caption, Bell joked about how her husband once promised, ‘I would never kill you,’ a remark that left many fans accusing her of trivializing domestic violence – particularly given that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
At the time, Dale Margolin Cecka, who leads the Family Violence Litigation Clinic at Albany Law School, told the Daily Mail that Bell’s comments could potentially ‘normalize abuse and silence survivors.’
Faced with growing criticism, Bell eventually decided to limit comments on her post.
Now, six months later, Shepard is opening up about what occurred behind the scenes.
On a recent episode of his podcast Armchair Expert, with comedian Nikki Glaser as a guest, Shepard confessed, “I was informed by someone that this entire situation was unfolding.”
Dax Shepard has revealed that he was completely unaware of the massive uproar caused by his wife Kristen Bell’s controversial Instagram post about their marriage
In October, Bell joked about how her husband once promised, ‘I would never kill you.’ The remark left many fans accusing her of trivializing domestic violence
‘Kristen knew through her publicist, but didn’t tell me. So, I actually didn’t know, and this was brought to my attention after a week and a half… I had no clue.’
As Shepard recounted to Glaser, ‘Someone comforted me, and I had to go to Kristen, like, “What are they talking about?” She’s like, “Oh, that post I had.”’
The post in question was an anniversary photo of Bell and Shepard, sharing an embrace, with the caption: ‘Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: “I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I’m heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would.”’
The caption sparked a mixed bag of reactions.
Comedian Howie Mandel joked, ‘He should write for Hallmark.’
But others were not as amused. ‘Crazy thing to joke about, honestly. Sincerely, someone who thankfully survived,’ one follower commented.
Another added, ‘What a wild thing to post during Domestic Violence Awareness month.’
Glaser brought up the controversial anniversary post when she revealed to Shepard that she had considered including a joke about it in her monologue at the 2026 Golden Globes in January.
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Is it ever acceptable to joke about sensitive topics like domestic violence in public posts?
The jarring caption, shared to mark their 12th wedding anniversary in October, quickly ignited global outrage
‘Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who once said to me: ‘I would never kill you. A lot of men have killed their wives at a certain point. Even though I’m heavily incentivized to kill you, I never would,’ the Frozen star, 45, wrote
‘Kristen knew through her publicist, but didn’t tell me. So, I actually didn’t know, and this was brought to my attention after a week and a half… I had no clue,’ Shepard said on the podcast
‘But I didn’t do it because I’m friends with you,’ she admitted. ‘And I was like, “I don’t want to make his life harder.”’
‘I definitely want to hear it,’ Shepard encouraged.
Glaser pulled out her iPhone and read the joke: ‘Die, My Love. If I Had Legs, I’d Kick You. Sorry, Baby.’ She added, ‘These are not just Dax Shepard captions for his anniversary post. These are movies nominated tonight.’
Shepard laughed, but Glaser explained why she ultimately scrapped the joke: ‘I didn’t do it because, also like, it was old news by then.’
Despite her decision to cut the joke, Shepard admitted that the couple’s overshare remained a hot topic at the Golden Globes.
By then, the media had moved on to a joint interview the couple did with Cher, Bell’s costar in Burlesque (2010), where the music legend did not hold back her thoughts on Shepard.
‘You’re lucky,’ Cher quipped. ‘She’s definitely the better half… You must have something that I don’t see.’
The following days saw the couple fielding questions about the interview on the Golden Globes red carpet. ‘Every interview we did was about Cher,’ Shepard told Glaser.
‘The thing that drives me nuts is, like, we released it. We posted it,’ he continued. ‘I think it’s hilarious. That’s why I posted it.’
Danielle Pollack, policy manager for the National Family Violence Law Center at GW Law, also blasted the post.
‘While dark humor is sometimes used to diffuse the seriousness of domestic abuse and homicide, making flip comments can inadvertently undermine the gravity of these issues and how DV is handled and viewed by society and systems,’ Pollack told the Daily Mail last year.
‘The reality is that femicide is the leading cause of death for pregnant and postpartum women in the US, and worldwide, every day, many women are murdered at the hands of their intimate partners or ex-partners.’
Pollack warned that if survivors feel society does not take abuse seriously, ‘they can be less incentivized to escape their abuser,’ adding that ‘flip comments by public figures do send a signal.’
