Dax Shepard has seen the fan analysis of his marriage with Kristen Bell, and he thinks critics have it all wrong.
Speaking on his popular podcast Armchair Expert this week, the Punk’d alum said he usually ignores the internet controversies whenever criticisms of his comments come up, but lately he’s had enough.
Fans might remember, the biggest controversy they endured was in 2025 when Kristen shared an anniversary post on Instagram and captioned it with what many fans found alarming:
Happy 12th wedding anniversary to the man who, after an 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.”
Some fans received the caption as a joke, but a lot of others raised issue with it. The timing wasn’t great as she shared it during Domestic Violence Awareness month, so fans thought that, at best, it was insensitive, but at its worst it was considered a red flag.
Related: How Dax Proposed To Kristen
Since then fans have been particularly attentive whenever Dax or Kristen make any kind of comment about their marriage. They analyze it, and try to determine if anything gives a clue to what life’s really like for them.
According to Dax, though, so much of the fan speculation isn’t just flat out wrong, it’s incredibly upsetting. In fact, he says he actively works to never be the kind of man some fans are painting him out to be. In quotes obtained by UsWeekly, he says:
“For me, growing up around certain men who behaved a certain way, and then literally dedicating my whole life to being the opposite of all that … I don’t ever yell at my children. I don’t swear at them. I don’t yell at my wife. You know, like, to have given it my all to be the opposite of what now some group of people is saying I am is hard, of course. So hard. I don’t love it.”
The most recent controversy?
In an October episode of his podcast, Kristen shared how Dax will flirt with her by complimenting others when they’re out. She thinks it’s very chivalrous of him to make others’ days better, and she likes to see it. She said:
If we go to a dinner or something, there’s a couple things Dax does where he doesn’t have to look up and wink at me, but I know that he’s just being the best boy. We’ll be at dinner, and he’ll say to the waiter or waitress, “Wow, you have incredible eyelashes, gorgeous eyes, great job.”
Online commenters, however, thought it was another sign of his alleged disrespect for her. This was the last straw for Dax, who on his newest episode reacted:
“We’re saying I flirt with Kristen by tipping people a lot, and I flirt with Kristen. Yeah, by complimenting people. If you think I’m complimenting hot young waitresses, you got a problem, right? I’m finding the dude that I don’t think has had a compliment in a while and telling him I love his shoes. It’s always somebody that I want to make their day.”
He then put his money where his mouth is, saying he’s so sure he hasn’t inadvertently hit on someone that he “will offer publicly $10 million to any server you can find that I have given my number to, or hit on.”
Dax says all the online commentary isn’t just hurtful to him, it’s also offensive to Kristen, as it makes it seem like she’s modeling staying in some supposedly emotionally abusive relationship.
“She’s, what, she’s sitting in the house with her two daughters and modeling some abusive relationship? Like, it’s very offensive to her.”
Reiterating the fact that he previously never let this kind of thing bother him, Dax then mentioned it’s gotten to a point where he’s no longer wanting to be in the spotlight if it continues:
“Generally, I can brush it off, but when we’re now on year two [and] … it just starts making me think like, ‘Oh, is this now my f**king role going forward is just, like, every four months there’s another thing about me being a terrible man’ And that makes me want to go away.”
His co-host, Monica Padman, who knows the couple very well, agreed that the speculation is “frustrating” and lacks merit.
Kristen and Dax have been married since 2013, and they share two daughters: Lincoln, 13, and Delta, 11.
Watch the episode for yourself (below):
[Image via YouTube/Armchair Expert.]
