Dax Shepard Claims He Didn't Know About Wife Kristen Bell's Anniversary Post Backlash — After Actress Joked About 'Men Who Kill Their Wives'
Dax Shepard was unaware of his wife's anniversary post controversy as it was happening.
April 6 2026, Published 6:45 p.m. ET
Dax Shepard has admitted he had no clue just how much backlash was brewing over wife Kristen Bell’s controversial wedding anniversary post about men who kill their wives, revealing he was largely in the dark as the online uproar erupted, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Bell, 45, joked her husband once told her he was "heavily incentivized to kill" her when celebrating 12 years of marriage, and Shepard, 51, was unaware of the fan and media firestorm for more than a week.
The Anniversary Post Controversy 'Was Brought to My Attention'
Bell didn't tell Shepard about the anniversary post scandal as it was happening.
Shepard made the revelation to guest Nikki Glazer on the April 6 episode of his Armchair Expert podcast.
The comedienne told the host she had some jokes about the scandal prepped for her 2026 Golden Globes opening monologue, but worried it might be "old news by then" and "maybe he doesn't even know about this."
"Well, I was alerted by someone that this whole thing was happening. I didn't know. Kristen knew through her publicist but didn't tell me. So, I actually didn't know, and this was brought to my attention," Shepard shared to a stunned Glazer.
She asked if it had been a "couple of days" without his knowledge of the controversy before the Idiocracy star shared, "Oh, a week and a half. Yeah. I had no clue."
Nikki Glazer told Dax Shepard the Post Controversy Was 'Everywhere'
Nikki Glazer was amazed Shepard was unaware of the post controversy.
"Someone comforted me, and I was like, 'What are..." And then I had to go to Kristen, 'What are they talking about?' She's like, 'Oh, that post I had," Shepard said, referring to the caption of the anniversary post the Frozen actress shared on October 17, 2025.
"You do a good job then of like staying away from stuff about you. Because it was everywhere," Glazer marveled.
"Well, I don't know, right? It's hard for me to know," the CHIPS star said about how he purposely stays oblivious to what's going on with social media.
'A Lot of Men Have Killed Their Wives at a Certain Point'
Bell wrote her controversial caption next to this photo celebrating her anniversary with Shepard.
Fans started questioning whether Bell and Shepard had a warped romance when she captioned a photo of the pair in a tight embrace with what some considered to be a crude joke about domestic violence.
"Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who, after and episode of Dateline, 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 Nobody Wants This star wrote.
Bell was called out for the "tone deaf" joke during October's Domestic Violence Awareness Month, while a rep for the National Network to End Domestic Violence noted, "There's nothing funny about domestic violence 'jokes' that trivialize the very real fear, trauma, and pain that millions of victims and survivors face each day."
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Glazer had a joke about Shepard and Bell's controversy prepped for the 2026 Golden Globes.
Glazer revealed one of the jokes she cooked up about the controversy that she didn't end up using on the Golden Globes telecast in January.
"Die My Love. If I Had Legs, I'd Kick You. Sorry Baby. These are not just captions for Dax Shepard's Instagram anniversary posts. These are movies nominated tonight," she rattled off as the duo laughed.
