Kristen Bell Describes Incredibly Relatable 'Blackout' Fight With Dax Shepard
The fight didn’t result in an apology, but she DID get a new dog, so
Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are a favorite couple for many of us, mostly because they keep things extremely real when discussing their marriage. And not just for quick soundbytes or to stay “relevant,” but because they genuinely feel it’s important to publicly discuss just how much work goes into making a marriage work. Even through “blackout” fights, as Kristen recently described to Justin Long.
During a guest appearance on Long’s podcast, Life is Short, Bell admits that she and Shepard had an “incredible” fight that was so intense, they “blacked out” and she ended up camping out on the couch while giving Shepard the silent treatment for three days.
Hi, hello, yes, this is marriage. So what was the cause of this epic blowout, you ask? Something most married couples will instantly recognize: one partner requesting “help” from the other partner, and the other partner feeling condescended to and chided.
“I left a note and I was like, ‘Hey dad! Would you mind taking the two towels in the dryer and folding them and then like one other thing,” Kristen explains on Long’s podcast. “He goes, ‘When you leave me notes, I feel really controlled.'”
Bell says while neither one can truly remember the exact events of the actual fight, it was just a big blur of bad stuff.
“Somehow then we both blacked out and got into a fight,” she went on. “I don’t actually remember what happened, but what transpired was a lot of volume, a lot of harsh words being thrown around, and it was an angry, angry fight about how nobody does anything for anybody else.”
The best part of this story (and yes, fights can be Bad but this truly is Good) is that neither party in this situation apologized, but the entire family got a new dog. How perfect is that?! Who needs hollow, forced “I’m sorrys” when you can just put a cap on the whole situation by gaining an adorable new pup? I’m gonna keep this information in my back pocket during my next marital blowout.
“I got a dog! This is so much better than an apology,” she says. “We never talked about that fight ever, but I will say this: Every single thing that I have needed done or thought, ‘I’d want help with this,’ since that fight, he has been ahead of. I couldn’t complain about him if I tried right now.”
This is, in every way, the definition of “win-win.”
Bell and Shepard are not just relatable because they both admit just how freaking hard it is to be married and parents of young children (they both openly discuss going to therapy, too, which is amazing). But also because even though they’re famous celebrities, they’re still Mom and Dad. Take this recent date night, for example.
And by “date night,” we of course mean The Golden Globes where Bell was nominated for her role in The Good Place.
I mean, they even SHOWERED for this so yeah — that’s the official sign it’s a legitimate date night.
Basically, blackouts or no blackouts, dogs or no dogs: Kristen and Dax forever.
