Kristen Bell says she and Dax are ‘doing much better now’ after fighting at home

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One of the surprisingly big stories last week was about Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard fighting while in isolation. That revealed this while doing an Instagram Live video with Katie Couric. Kristen said they’d been “at each other’s throats,” that they’ve “found each other revolting,” and Dax added right before leaving that “America’s sweetheart has some character defects.” That’s AA language, Dax has been open about being in the program, but it’s still a really snotty thing to say about your partner, especially in an interview. Kristen did another interview with ET Online and she said that things are better and that they have some humor about it now. There are some clips from the interview on ET’s site if you’re interested and here’s some of what Kristen told them.

“We’ve gotten on each other’s last nerve these last couple days,” Bell confides. “We’re doing much better now because were laughing about it. But when we were not laughing about it for the first couple of days, that’s the hard spot.”

The Frozen 2 star explained why she and Shepard were having such trouble being around one another. “I love spending time with him and he loves spending time with me but I think what is different about this quarantine time is you have so much more time to think about the other persona and their actions and sort of replay what they said or attach a meaning to something that they did and that I could do without,” she shares. “Nobody really needs time for that. That’s useless.”

Bell noted that they are good about finding space alone for themselves in the house. “You got to in a marriage. You got to,” she insists.

As for their daughters, 7-year-old Lincoln and 5-year-old Delta, Bell said she made a big decision at the start of their quarantine.

“The biggest lesson I learned in the beginning was I wrote out the color-coded schedule — when our academic time would be and when our art time would be. By day five, I was making everybody miserable,” she recalls. “The kids hated that I was trying to adhere to the schedule. So about a week ago, I woke them up and I said, ‘This is your most important mission ever. Get up.’ I brought them in the kitchen and I had them rip up the schedule. …I had them shred it and they felt so good. I said the learning lesson here is that if you make a plan and it’s not working, you pivot.”

Bell said everyone in her household now has a lot more “free time” and it’s been good for them. “We’re doing just art projects around the house. We have neon glow paint and we’ve been painting the rocks outside so they glow and just doing silly stuff,” she muses. “Just reconnecting with each other and I think that’s the most valuable lesson.”

[From ET Online]

Of course she’s saying they’re fine now because she saw how everyone reacted to that story. They probably are doing better though, they’re just one of those couples that snipes at each other. As an aside I could really relate to her scheduling issues. I’m not planning the day by the hour like that but I’m trying to do certain things on certain days and have realized that it’s easier just to go with the flow and try to stay busy and spontaneous. That’s hard for me. Being at home isn’t the difficult part, it’s the uncertainty and monotony of the days.

Oh and they celebrated their daughter Lincoln’s seventh birthday at home. Luckily they had already ordered Harry Potter decorations. I feel bad for people who have to celebrate birthdays, anniversaries, weddings and especially births at this time. You just wants friends and family around you for events like that.

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21 Responses to “Kristen Bell says she and Dax are ‘doing much better now’ after fighting at home”

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  1. Jem says:

    They are exhausting.

    • livealot says:

      !!!!!!

      I may be late in realizing this coupledom is their “brand” but like who asked for this ?

  2. Bebe says:

    Their inevitable divorce is going to be mega-obnoxious, right?

  3. Anna says:

    Yeah, his comment calling her “America’s sweetheart” seemed genuinely disdainful toward her. I do not see them staying together.

    • Keiji says:

      That was shockingly awful. I don’t know yet if she is as bad, but it seems like she has low self esteem. No-one who loved themselves could stay in this.

  4. Jaded says:

    I absolutely despise couples who snipe at each other publicly. It actually makes me feel ill and cringey. First of all it’s immature – it’s your life partner, show some respect. Just because you live together doesn’t mean you get to say whatever you want whenever you want. Think before you open your pie-hole and say something insulting or hurtful. Respond rather than react. Put yourself into their shoes and imagine what they’d feel like if you said something rude and demeaning. Christ on a cracker these two are annoying.

    • Lady Keller says:

      THIS! I’ve got a few relatives like this and I find it so very hard to even be around them. I sure dont want my kids around them thinking that this is how you treat a spouse. But, I think some couples just have that dynamic and don’t know how else to exist. Its funny because my relatives spend so much time arguing and calling each other “stupid b!#ch” or “f%@$ing a-hole” and when you actually suggest that they should not be together or ask them why they are still married they are shocked. Why would they possibly get divorced? They can’t understand why so.eone would question their relationship or suggest they separate.

      • Fork&Beans says:

        I hear you both! Unfortunately, my parents were the warring couple in public, private, anywhere, anytime. It was horrible, embarrassing and yes, left a few scars. I cannot stand any disagreements, anytime I hear sniping the hairs on my neck stand on end.

  5. LuckyD says:

    I feel like Dax is hilarious, fun, and an asshole. I watched him and his co-host argue about something once and it was sooooo triggering. He is one of those men that just belittles makes you feel stupid for having your beliefs when they don’t align with his beliefs, and keeps a infantalizing calm voice and laughs at you when you get frustrated by their pushing. It was so telling. I love his characters and I’m sure there are good sides to him, but that argument was so telling to me.

  6. Aims says:

    Nobody wants to know about their tiffs. I’m also going to assume that they’re not living in 800 sq ft apartment, so they have space to spread out.

  7. Sarah says:

    Of course they are, gotta keep that whole “mom and dad are so relatable” persona going, so they’re now magically doing better. Exhausting AND transparent.

  8. Mabs A'Mabbin says:

    Schedules and lists. Are Satan incarnate lol. Obviously I realize planning and organization are important skills, but I also know I hate them and that’s my character defect. I have to go with the flow. I have to make decisions on the fly. My husband knows if he wants to kill me, take me on vacation then give me an itinerary.

  9. grumpyterrier says:

    That plaid turtleneck is unbelievably hideous. Is that a current picture, as in from this century? I like Dax a lot just because of his podcasts. He was much deeper and nicer than expected. I don’t care for Kristen though, she seems like a pill based on things he has mentioned about her.

  10. naomipaige99 says:

    I was wondering when she was going to share more information. She obviously doesn’t get the meaning of TMI. She is nauseating. I cannot stand her. She rubs me the wrong way.

  11. Kate says:

    Ok but that part about the scheduling made me feel much better because I just got a suggested schedule from my daughter’s teacher today that was similar to what she described (like 9:30-11 work period, 11-12 art, etc) and my instinct was that that would not work and would cause more grief than it would provide calming routine. My kids are already doing virtual school for several hours a day and even though it’s like art class and sing along and seemingly fun low-key things they whine everytime I set up the ipad. I get the importance of routine for kids and we’re sticking to general waketime, bedtime, mealtime schedules but I just have my doubts that it’s possible to turn my home into their preschool.

  12. Ashley says:

    They have those weird separate beds that look like a king bed. Telling. I get that you have good days and bad days with your partner but those beds are the worst when you want a cuddle. One of you always falls into the hole. I stayed at a friend’s parents house one summer and they had that. My boyfriend and I hated it. I actually felt more distant from him after sharing that kind of bed.

    I actually don’t mind their over sharing. For too long people have been told that relationships could only be one way. They are very forthcoming that their way is a different but it works for them. My boyfriend and I snip at each other, we have off days (mostly because we’re long distance) and I’m tired of reading comments by people who are like “they’re done, they’re awful together, get a divorce already”. It might not be your way but it doesn’t mean your way is the only way. There are days I hate more boyfriend, months where things are off but at the end of the day I love him more than anything in the world. And yes even when I hate him and can’t stand him.

  13. Case says:

    I’ve come to the same conclusion about scheduling this period of staying home. At first I had certain chores I hoped to do each morning and entertainment ideas for each night. It was silly to schedule those things ahead of time without knowing whether I’d be in the mood for a movie on Thursday night or want to clean my office Monday morning. I’m trying to be kinder to myself now and go with the flow. I make a list at the beginning of the week of projects and chores I’d like to complete, and just try to do them at some point during the week, when the mood strikes. The stuff always gets done because I have that little reminder. As for fun stuff…that should be spontaneous. You can’t force fun!

  14. Allergy says:

    I don’t really care how they are doing.

  15. Carmelita says:

    Good. Ok. Go away now please.

  16. Amaria says:

    Just divorce already if your marriage is harder work than a mining job. If they treat each other like this around their kids it will leave some scars, inevitably.