Kristen Bell Turns Off the Comments

“Happy 12th 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,” Bell wrote in a post on Saturday. Adorable. Romantic. Nobody Wants This writer’s room, please take note. 

Obviously, this caption was meant to be a joke in line with the famous couple’s quirky “we don’t wash our kids” persona. But is the joke funny? Depends on who you ask. For some of their celeb friends, the joke seemingly landed well—with blue checkmarks like Howie Mandel and Mae Whitman commenting with jokes of their own. “Oh I love this picture,” Sarah Silverman wrote with three heart emojis, and Zoey Deutch commented, “you guys are the best.” 

The huxters at Dateline even got in on the “fun.” 

Haha! Yes! Women are often killed by intimate partners on Dateline. Hilarious! Unfortunately, the joke did not land quite as well with the non-celebrities, many of whom were quick to point out that it was especially ill-timed given that October is Domestic Violence Awareness Month. 

“That’s a wildly sad and insensitive thing to say considering it’s domestic violence awareness month and thousands of women have died at [sic] the hands of the man they trusted…,” one person commented. “Crazy thing to joke about, honestly. Sincerely, someone who survived,” wrote another. Just spotlight search the words “tone deaf” in the comments, and you’ll get a sense of how the caption was received by the general public. 

While Bell has not said anything publicly, as of Monday, she did limit comments—so she’s clearly aware of the response. Luckily for the happy couple, internet controversy appears to be one of their love languages. From that time they slept on the floor at Logan Airport to the aforementioned “we don’t bathe our kids until they stink” debacle, the Shepard-Bell partnership has been marked by one low-level controversy after another. 

So, here’s to 12 more years of discourse for these two, I guess.

• Ireland Baldwin posted on Substack about turning 30 and surviving “narcissistic, unreliable, addict family members.” [Page Six]
• Apple Martin made her singing debut in Nashville. It begins…[People]
• John Stamos says he knows “for a fact” the whole college admission scandal was all Mossimo Giannulli’s fault. [Daily Beast]
• Taylor Swift’s ex Joe Jonas joined the chorus of people who had a lukewarm response to The Life of A Showgirl. [Entertainment Weekly]
• #FreeBritney will not be mobilizing at Kevin Federline’s request. Obviously. [Page Six]

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