Dax Shepard has finally spoken out following Cher’s critical remarks about his marriage to Kristen Bell on the Armchair Expert podcast.
During the January 5 episode, Cher criticized Shepard, suggesting that his wife of twenty years, Bell, was too good for him.
“You’re lucky, she’s definitely the better half,” Cher commented about Bell, who shares two children with Shepard after they wed 12 years ago.
Shepard initially let the remark slide, but later addressed it, suggesting Cher was ‘just not sold yet on me’.
The singer responded, “No, but the truth is I trust her [Bell]. So, you must have something that I don’t see.”
Instead of responding directly, Shepard asked, “Who would you like to see Kristen with? If you got to pick from every available bachelor – oh, they don’t even have to be available, they can be some taken ones if you want. Who would be your dream partner for her? Because I know you think she could do better, and I don’t disagree. Who would be your pick?”
When Cher admitted she wasn’t sure, Shepard suggested, “Brad Pitt, maybe?”
Nearly a week after the episode’s release, Shepard addressed the situation.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight at the Golden Globes, Shepard described the comments as ‘hilarious’ and assured that he took no offense.
“It was so good. We kept it in because it was great,” he mentioned, joking that Bell gave him ‘divorce papers’ after hearing it.
He noted the online backlash from Cher’s comments, remarking that interpretations can often be skewed, saying, “The internet is a dangerous place.”
While Cher’s comments didn’t bother him, Shepard admitted in the January 12 episode of Armchair Expert that past remarks from others have been hurtful.
“I’ve been with Kristen for 20 years, and there have been hundreds of articles about, ‘Why is she with this guy?’ Lists of top 10 hot girls with ugly guys.
“I’ve been dealing with that less now since the podcast, but for the first 12, 13 years we were together, there were hundreds of these lists of ugly guys with hot girls, and I’m always on it.”
He explained how it affected him, leaving him ‘hurt and insecure’ and causing some ‘defensive’ reactions.
“I’m like ‘Go meet my other girlfriends. They’ve all been hot. F*** you,’ right? I have this defensiveness,” he continued. “And then when I calm down, I really get into it. I’m like, you know, it’s so interesting. I think I know what’s going on. And it’s just [beaten] into us in elementary school and in school, which is like, there’s strata. You’re born into them. Someone shan’t migrate north or south. It’s disruptive to this whole system that we have been formatted in.”