‘Wildly Sad And Insensitive’: Kristen Bell’s Anniversary Tribute Goes Viral For All The Wrong Reasons, And The Timing Couldn’t Be Worse

Kristen Bell’s wedding anniversary post to husband Dax Shepard has caused a lot of anger online. The actress shared an Instagram message celebrating 12 years of marriage that many people are calling wrong and badly timed.

The post had a photo with a caption quoting Shepard. Bell wrote that her husband once told her he would never kill her, even though he was “heavily incentivized” to do so. She seemed to think the comment was a funny inside joke between them, and ended the caption with a heart emoji.

But people did not take it well. One person called it “wildly sad and insensitive” because of when it was posted. They pointed out that Bell shared this during Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October. The person said that thousands of women have been killed by men they trusted, which makes the joke really bad.

People Are Questioning Bell’s Judgment

Lots of social media users filled the comments saying they could not believe Bell thought this was okay to share with everyone. One person wrote, “How can any self-respecting woman stay with a man who ‘jokes’ like that? I’m not even a very serious person, but that would have me leaving so fast your head would spin.”

The anger quickly moved beyond Instagram to other sites. On X, people shared screenshots of the post with their own thoughts. One user wrote, “The death of woke is 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.”

Other people asked why anyone would think such a statement was sweet or worth celebrating. One person said that both the idea of a husband saying he wants to kill his wife and then posting it online as an anniversary message were really concerning. Another user said that most people in relationships like this need therapy.

A few fans stood up for the couple. They said the post just showed Bell and Shepard’s dark sense of humor. Even the official Dateline Instagram account made a joke about it in the comments. But most people felt the joke went too far. The situation has joined other recent problems where public figures faced backlash for insensitive social media posts.

Many people said that even if this was meant as a joke between partners, some things should stay private. They said that sharing this kind of content with millions of followers during a month meant to raise awareness about domestic violence showed really bad judgment.