Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are under renewed scrutiny after a resurfaced video shows the actor joking about hitting his wife, years before her now-infamous anniversary post referencing men who kill their wives.
Amid growing criticism that the couple have a history of making insensitive jokes about domestic violence, an unsettling interview clip has begun to circulate online.Â
In the unearthed footage, the pair, who were promoting their 2012 film Hit and Run, were discussing Shepard’s beloved 1967 Lincoln Continental when the conversation took a bizarre turn.
After Bell, 45, recalled a conversation, in which she teased him about the car sounding like it was ‘going to break,’ Shepard, 50, interrupted: ‘And I was very offended. And then I hit her several times.’
Bell laughed and played along, adding, ‘And then I got beat up. And guess what, I never opened my mouth again.’
The SheKnows reporter awkwardly replied, ‘My goodness, you guys have quite the interesting relationship,’ to which Shepard doubled down: ‘Well, with the dead bodies and all that.’
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are under renewed scrutiny after a resurfaced video shows the actor joking about hitting his wife
He was referencing an earlier comment made in the interview when he quipped that ‘Kristen murdered someone one time’ and he ‘helped her dispose of the body.’
‘I murdered a couple of people,’ Bell said sarcastically. ‘But he only disposed of one body. I had other boyfriends, at the time, that were disposing of the other bodies.’Â
Shepard, then, cheekily stated beside that ‘everything’s been pretty normal.’Â
The Daily Mail has reached out to Bell and Shepard’s representatives for comment, but have not heard back, at this time.
The exchange has sparked fresh outrage this week, coming just days after Bell faced widespread condemnation for a shocking Instagram caption celebrating her 12th wedding anniversary with Shepard.
Under a photo of the couple hugging, the Veronica Mars star wrote: ‘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 post, which has not been removed, immediately drew furious reactions online – particularly because October is National Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
‘Timing and tone really matter, especially with sensitive topics,’ one X user wrote.
Another added: ‘Kristen Bell thinking it was OK to post this to her 16 million followers during Domestic Abuse Awareness Month — when a girl or woman is killed by a man known to them every 10 minutes — is insane.’
Instagram users echoed similar outrage beneath her post.
‘That’s a wildly sad and insensitive thing to say considering it’s domestic violence awareness month and thousands of women have died at the hands of the man they trusted,’ one wrote.
Another fumed: ‘This is tone-deaf and offensive during any month.’
Amid growing criticism that the couple have a history of making insensitive jokes about domestic violence, an unsettling interview clip has begun to circulate onlineÂ
Some comments went even further, warning: ‘Not funny at all. What kind of man says that to his wife? Oh wait, I know exactly what kind. Get out now, Kristen.’
‘Domestic violence isn’t a joke,’ another said bluntly, while one longtime fan pleaded: ‘Please don’t joke about domestic violence. It’s something real that lots of people suffer on a daily basis. The text could be triggering for victims.’
One commenter also pointed out: ‘The number one cause of death for pregnant women is their partner. Super tone deaf, hun.’
Despite the backlash, Bell has not deleted the post or responded publicly.Â
The controversy comes as a stark contrast to the couple’s long-cultivated public image as one of Hollywood’s most relatable and self-aware duos, known for candid discussions about therapy, parenting and marriage.
The exchange has sparked fresh outrage this week, coming just days after Bell faced widespread condemnation for a shocking Instagram captionÂ
The post, which has not been removed, immediately drew furious reactions online – particularly because October is National Domestic Violence Awareness MonthÂ
Bell and Shepard first met in 2004 at a mutual friend’s birthday dinner, though sparks didn’t fly immediately.
‘That guy from Punk’d talks so much. Woah, he’s chatty,’ Bell recalled during a June 2024 appearance on SiriusXM’s Where Everybody Knows Your Name.
They reconnected three years later at a hockey game – and this time, the chemistry was instant.
‘He asked me for a piece of gum,’ Bell said. ‘I said, ‘No, just this,’ and kind of coyly took it out of my mouth. And he grabbed it from me and goes, ‘I’ll take it.’ Then he put it in his mouth, and I was like, this guy wants to f**k me. After that, I was absolutely smitten.’
Despite the backlash, Bell has not deleted the post or responded publicly; seen in April 2025
Their relationship wasn’t without hiccups – Shepard briefly ended things before calling her four days later to admit he’d made ‘a big mistake.’
The couple tied the knot in 2013 in a low-key courthouse ceremony in Beverly Hills and now share two daughters, Lincoln, 11, and Delta, 9.
Bell has long praised Shepard’s loyalty and curiosity, saying every new discovery about him ‘leaves [her] more and more impressed.’
‘He’s so protective, he’s so loyal, he’s curious, he’s constantly researching things to get new perspective, he challenges himself, he’s self-critical,’ she gushed in a past interview.
But in light of the resurfaced SheKnows footage and her recent anniversary caption, many fans are now reassessing the couple’s brand of humor and asking whether jokes about violence in relationships ever land as harmless.
