Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard: Kids Thought She Was a ‘B****’ After 2007 Split

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard’s daughters were not happy when they learned that their parents split in 2007.

And they felt the blame lay with their mother, the 50-year-old actor said when on Jimmy Kimmel Live on Tuesday.

The actors have two children together, Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10. They do not show their children’s faces on social media or take them to events.

The kids learned about the split when they watched their parents’ 2012 movie Hit And Run, which was written by Shepard and based on his relationship with Bell.

‘They were very upset,’ Shepard said. ‘And what made me happy is they were mad at mom, not me.’ 

He then joked, ‘They thought mom was a bitch. They thought dad was a good boy with a bad past and she should be able to overlook that and I agree.’ 

In 2021 he said his ‘bad past’ was his addiction issues which he has been very open about. He also had a brief relapse in 2020 which he was sorry for.

Bell, 45, and Shepard met in 2007 and started dating soon after. They wed in 2013.

The pair dated for three months until Shepard broke things off because he wasn’t ready to settle down. 

‘He sat me down and said, ‘I can’t have this right now. I think you’re wonderful, but I am still dating other people,” Bell revealed in a Popsugar interview in 2017. But she respected his honesty.

Shepard told Kimmel that in the end the children actually ‘loved’ the story even if it really was ‘inappropriate’ for them to watch.

He added, ‘It was a great litmus test for our children. They have a great sense of humor. They’ll go hard in the paint, our kids.’

The actress also said that she and her husband had not watched the movie in ‘forever’ but he felt it has ‘aged like a Bordeaux [wine].’

The couple talked their 2012 film Hit And Run because it is now on Hulu. 

This comes after the couple came under fire from fans for an ‘insensitive’ post she made about Dax’s vow never to murder her.

Last month Bell said a happy marriage requires consistent ‘compromise’. The Hollywood star told Andy Cohen Live: ‘I don’t like the idea that you’re looking for your perfect puzzle piece because you also have to become a puzzle piece that fits with someone else.

‘So if you find two people that are like, ‘Yeah, we’re going to make this work and that means we’re going to compromise constantly and those compromises should work well for both of us.’ And sometimes it’s going to ebb and sometimes it’s going to flow, but we’re not going to have checks and balances, because we’re going to realize it’s not me against you, it’s us against the world.”

Kristen also loves that Dax has ‘a commitment to growth at all times’.

She said: ‘We understand each other’s highs and lows and excitements and complaints. We’re both creative, so we can get deep into some random conversation and just feel like we’re creating something together.

‘I am glad I chose my husband because he has a commitment to growth at all times.’

Kristen previously admitted that she relishes the challenges of motherhood. The film star also revealed that she often encounters ‘ridiculous’ things in her family life.

The blonde beauty told TODAY: ‘Every day is something comical. Every day when you’re raising kids, you feel like you could cry or crack up and just scream ‘This is ridiculous!’ because there’s so much nonsense, whether it’s what they’re saying to you or the fact that there’s avocado or poop on every surface.’

Kristen’s experience has actually made her more appreciative of her own mom.

She said: ‘I was very much a rule-follower, yet rejected by instinct every single thing my mom wanted.

”I’d love you to wear this dress.’ ‘That’s the only dress I don’t want to wear today’ would be my instinct. And I now feel so apologetic.

‘But seeing some of that in my girls, I realized I have to nurture their desire to be autonomous individuals. But it will be difficult.’