Dax Shepard has confessed that he didn’t do much for his wife, Kristen Bell, on Valentine’s Day, because he was more focused on their two daughters.
During Monday’s episode of his Armchair Expert podcast, the 51-year-old actor revealed he went “all out” for his children — Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 11 — on Valentine’s Day, with heart-shaped pool floats and handmade cards. However, with all the attention on his daughters, he admitted that he didn’t plan anything for his wife.
“I definitely neglected my mom and Kristen,” he said, after calling his mother his Valentine for the last 51 years. “But I think they saw that I was spending a lot of my energy on my other two Valentines.”
Shepard’s co-host, Monica Padman, asked if Bell saw Shepard’s gestures for their children as her Valentine’s Day gift. “I hope so. I think so,” he responded.
The Hit and Run star made the remark amid online scrutiny of his marriage. Last month, he confronted singer Cher about her belief that Bell wasn’t good enough for him. During an episode of Shepard’s podcast, which also featured his wife, Cher described him as “lucky” and said the Nobody Wants This star was “definitely the better half” of the 12-year marriage.
“Who would you like to see Kristen with?” Shepard asked. “If you get to pick from every available bachelor. They don’t even have to be available; there can be some taken ones if you want.”
Shepard continued: “Who would be your dream partner for her? Because I know you think she could do better, and I don’t disagree.”
Cher replied that she had not thought of anyone else for Bell and put an end to the question by saying, “The truth is, I trust her. So you must have something that I don’t see.”
Clips of the episode quickly went viral on TikTok, with viewers crticizing Shepard for grilling Cher about his own marriage.
“He hates and resents his wife,” one claimed, while a second agreed, “It really seems like he hates her.”
“Dax is instigating a fight later this is SO toxic,” a third wrote.
“His confrontational style here is really interesting. He’s not asking this in a warm or inviting way. It’s quite concerning,” wrote another.
Shepard and Bell have faced intense backlash for the way they’ve discussed their marriage in the past. In October, the Frozen star celebrated her 12th wedding anniversary with a photo on Instagram, showing her daughter sitting on Shepard’s lap as he tightly embraced her.
“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,’” she wrote in the caption.
Many people in the comment section called Bell out for her “insensitive” caption — particularly given that October is widely recognized in the U.S. as Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“Kristen, there’s no way you posted this during domestic violence awareness month,” one comment with more than 17,000 likes read.
“That’s a wildly sad and insensitive thing to say,” another wrote, while a third agreed: “Incredibly insensitive! I’m just shocked she posted this.”