Dax Shepard’s old jokes about “hitting” Kristen Bell resurface as fans call his anniversary post painfully tone-deaf.NN
A video has resurfaced of Dax Shepard joking about hitting wife Kristen Bell just days after the actress faced backlash for her “tone-deaf” anniversary post.
Shepard and Bell were being interviewed by SheKnows while doing press for their 2012 movie “Hit and Run” when he made the off-color joke about striking her.
In the clip, Bell recalled getting into a car with Shepard after he spent two years “souping it up.”
“He was so excited. We drove to brunch and the first thing I said, five minutes into the ride, I said, ‘This sounds like it’s gonna break,’” Bell said.
Shepard deadpanned that he was “very offended.”
“And then I hit her several times,” Shepard joked, prompting Bell to add cheekily, “And then I got beat up, and guess what — I never opened my mouth again.”
The reporter then told the couple that they had “quite the interesting relationship.”
The strange exchange materialized just days after Bell was in hot water for sharing a controversial message on her and Shepard’s 12th wedding anniversary.
The “Frozen” star shared an Instagram photo of her and Shepard hugging with the caption, “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.’ ❤️.”
Instagram users immediately dragged Bell for posting the message in October — which is Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“just an fyi, posting this caption during domestic violence awareness month is unbelievably tone deaf :/ please reconsider,” one person commented on the post.
“That’s a wildly sad and insensitive thing to say, considering it’s domestic violence awareness month and thousands of women have died a the hands of the man they trusted…,” a second critic added.
Page Six exclusively reported that a domestic violence advocacy group also blasted Bell for her insensitivity.
“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,” a rep for the National Network to End Domestic Violence told Page Six in a statement Tuesday.
“Especially during Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we all have a responsibility to support victims and survivors, to invest in proven solutions and to speak about this issue with the seriousness it deserves,” the organization concluded.
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Despite some of Bell’s supporters defending her, the “Nobody Wants This” actress limited her Instagram comments amid the heavy criticism.
On Wednesday, Bell skipped her scheduled “Today” show appearance and has yet to address her absence from the interview.
Bell —who posted about doing press for her Netflix show on Instagram Tuesday — was nowhere to be seen during what was supposed to be an interview with her and co-star Justine Lupe on the NBC morning show.
Reps for Bell and NBC did not return Page Six’s request for comment.
Bell, 45, and Shepard, 50, tied the knot in October 2013 and share two daughters: Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10.
