Kristen Bell Discusses Reality of Relationships Following Dax Shepard Anniversary Post Controversy

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard: 12 Years of Marriage

Kristen Bell has opened up about the challenges in her relationship with Dax Shepard.

The Frozen actress has been married to Shepard for more than ten years, and the celebrity couple has two daughters.

Recently, they celebrated their 12th wedding anniversary, but Bell's message to her husband drew attention.

She shared a photo of them embracing, writing: "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.'"

Although intended as a joke, the post received criticism and was labeled as 'tone deaf' by some.

"What a wild thing to post during Domestic Violence Awareness month," one critic remarked on the post.

Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell have been married for 12 years

Another person described it as 'horrifically insensitive'. However, not everyone was offended, with some recognizing it as Bell and Shepard's style of humor.

UNILAD contacted their representatives for a statement at the time.

Bell also missed a scheduled TV appearance a few days later, though the reason for her absence has not been disclosed.

Following the backlash, PEOPLE published an interview with The Good Place actress, who shared that she and her husband are quite different from each other.

Referring to her Nobody Wants This character Joanne's early relationship struggles with her new partner Noah (played by Adam Brody), Bell mentioned that she can personally relate to this.

"Having someone I feel is very opposite from me is certainly something that resonates with me. I feel like my real-life husband and I are 'opposites attract,'" she said, adding: "But that doesn't mean we couldn't make it work, or didn't want to make it work."

Bell described her relationship with her husband as 'opposites attract'

Bell further explained about her relationship with Shepard: "It just meant we needed a lot of patience with each other to determine what the compromises would be, and a general understanding that we're likely to have different viewpoints on almost everything - and find a respectful way to have those discussions."

She also discussed the possibility of Shepard appearing on Nobody Wants This, similar to Brody's wife, Leighton Meester, in season two (which was released on Netflix yesterday, October 23).

Bell reflected: "I would definitely want him to join the show. He would never do it - he's somewhat retired from acting.

"Maybe he'll return one day, but he enjoys podcasting and isn't lacking opportunities."

Shepard hosts a podcast called Armchair Expert and recently featured Jennifer Aniston as a guest.