Rhianna Benson
After sharing a 'tone deaf' anniversary tribute to husband Dax Shepard earlier this week, Kristen Bell has found herself in hot water with online critics.
The 45-year-old Frozen actress took to Instagram on Saturday (18 October) where she thanked her movie star hubby - with whom she shares two daughters, Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10 - for their time together as they marked their anniversary.
Bell and Shepard have been an item since 2007, when they met at a birthday dinner set up for Forgetting Sarah Marshall producer Shauna Robertson. Two years later, they quietly got engaged.
But it wasn't until 2013 that the big-name stars tied the knot in a low-key Beverly Hills County Clerk's Office ceremony, having waited until same-sex marriage was legalised in California to wed.
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Bell's latest Instagram upload featured a photo of Shepard, 50, holding his wife in his arms, while the couple sat together on the edge of a bed.
It was the wording used by Bell in the caption, however, that set tongues wagging for all the wrong reasons.
She jokingly penned: "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'."
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While some fans of the A-list couple congratulated them on their marital milestone, others found themselves triggered by the timing of Bell's post, due to its reference to violence.
One hit out: "Kristen there’s no way you posted this during domestic violence awareness month."
A second questioned: "And we didn't see any flags in this?"
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"Is femicide not a thing in the US?" a third questioned. "Here in the Netherlands a woman is killed by her (ex)partner every 8 days. So to post this and call it sweet or a joke is wild to me."
Another wrote: "Thats a wildly sad and insensitive thing to say considering it's domestic violence awareness month and thousands of women have died a the hands of the man they trusted..."
One also hit out: "Just an fyi, posting this caption during domestic violence awareness month is unbelievably tone deaf - please reconsider."
LADbible Group has previously contacted reps for Bell and Shepard for comment.
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If you are experiencing domestic violence, please know that you are not alone. You can talk in confidence 24 hours a day to the national domestic violence helpline Refuge on 0808 2000 247.