Some people (including Cher) were already pretty skeptical of Kristen Bell’s husband, Dax Shepard, and the latest anecdote she shared isn’t helping. During a recent episode of her husband’s Armchair Expert podcast, Kristen explained that Dax is sometimes super friendly when talking to other women.
Kristen seems to love this about him. Meanwhile, Dax’s co-host, Monica Padman, said he might actually be flirting with other women in those moments. But Kristen dismissed these concerns, saying that complimenting other people is actually his way of flirting with her. People online aren’t so sure about that, though.
Kristen revealed that her husband will sometimes compliment waitresses when they’re out together.
“If we go to a dinner or something, there’s a couple things Dax does where he doesn’t have to look up and wink at me, but I know that he’s just being the best boy,” Kristen explained on the podcast. “We’ll be at dinner and he’ll say to the waiter [or] waitress, he’ll go, ‘Wow, you have incredible eyelashes, gorgeous eyes, great job.'”
When asked about whether Dax was actually just choosing to flirt with other people instead of her (and in front of her), Kristen insisted, “But that’s flirting with me because he just made someone else feel good.”
She elaborated on this, saying she takes pride in being with a man who does this.
Kristen said that her husband’s behavior has never crossed the line. She doesn’t see the people he compliments as a threat because they’re often people he will never see again.
“Let’s say it is a girl; he’s gonna have zero interaction with this girl for the rest of his life,” she said. “The chances of him ever having another conversation with her are so microscopic.”
Even knowing that, some other people still might find this kind of thing uncomfortable or inappropriate. But Kristen said witnessing her husband speak this way to other people actually makes her feel “fluttery inside.”
Oftentimes, she feels that he’s the only person in the room who is bold enough to compliment people in the way that he does. “Maybe she hadn’t had a compliment that day,” Kristen said. “And I’m with the guy that’s pouring compliments on people, making them feel good.”
People are not necessarily convinced that this is the flex Kristen thinks it is.
Kristen said she loves knowing that she has a partner who “actively smiles at people and gives them compliments.” Some people agreed that being kind to others is an attractive quality. So, they could understand what Kristen was saying and actually found it sweet.
Others, however, remained skeptical. To one critic on Instagram, kindness that’s about “the physical beauty of another woman” felt a bit different from simply being a friendly and thoughtful person.
“The amount of brainwashing this woman has put herself through to believe her husband actually likes her, oh my god….. may this type of ‘love’ never find me pls….” another critic wrote.
“Who’s going to tell her?” someone else wrote in the comments. And a fourth critic said this story made it sound like Kristen is “trying to convince the public she’s happy and this is how she wants to be treated.”
Of course, it’s entirely possible that Kristen really is happy, regardless of whether people understand her relationship with Dax. If their relationship works for them, then it works (even though Cher seems to think Kristen could do better).
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