Kristen Bell’s Strange Anniversary Post to Dax Shepard Leaves Fans Uncomfortable

Actor Kristen Bell dropped a pretty confusing Instagram post on Oct. 18, 2025, marking her 12-year wedding anniversary with husband Dax Shepard. Unlike the sweet, appreciative posts she’s usually known for, this one had a very different tone, and some people are a little concerned. That’s because it includes the words "husband," "kill," and "you." Huh?

The post quickly caught people’s attention, with many trying to figure out if Kristen had gone a little off the deep end while attempting to be funny. Even Dateline joined in, commenting, “Screenshotted.” While most of what Kristen says or does is usually meant to be taken with a grain of salt because she likes to joke around, this one left some fans feeling uneasy. The photo she used only added to the confusion. Here’s the context behind it and why it got the internet talking.

Kristen Bell’s controversial 2025 anniversary post read, “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.’”

Naturally, the question on everyone’s mind is: Is she serious? She does have a net worth of $60 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth. Dax’s is slightly lower, with some sources estimating it at around $12 million. So, technically, he would have something to gain (just putting that out there). But in all seriousness, knowing Kristen, the first reaction would be no, she’s just trying to be funny.

Both she and Dax are known for their comedic personalities, so it sounds very much like one of their inside jokes. You can practically hear them saying it in a sarcastically serious tone.

But with mental health and domestic violence being such sensitive and growing concerns, joking about topics like that can easily cross a line. And that’s exactly how it came across to many in the comments.

One person wrote, “Domestic violence isn’t a joke,” while another asked, “Is this … supposed to be funny?” The joke clearly didn’t land with a lot of people. The other confusing part about Kristen’s post is the photo, so let’s dive into that.

Putting aside Kristen’s comment about Dax being "heavily incentivized" to kill her, which is hard to do because it was a strange joke to make, the proportions of the people in the photo, which many initially assumed to be Kristen and Dax, seemed very off. Surely she can’t be that small, right? Kristen is 5 feet 1 inch tall, and Dax is 6 feet 2 inches, and based on past photos of them together, it doesn’t look like her in the picture.

In fact, it actually looks more like their daughter, who appeared in another post Kristen shared on Sept. 4, 2025, which included a carousel of photos praising Dax for being 21 years sober. “This is what 21 years of sobriety looks like. Lots of hugging. Hugging everyone and everything. Hugging life. Thank you for getting sober, @daxshepard. I am eternally grateful to have you. We all are,” she wrote in the caption.