Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard Cozy Up in New Photos After Anniversary Post Drama

Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard looked more in love than ever as they rang in the new year.

Taking to Instagram, Shepard, 51, shared a post full of photos of themselves cozying up to one another and enjoying a fun time with friends and family as they kicked off 2026 in style.

“Bonkers fun New Years. Massive gratitude for The Richardsons and @justbobbidotcom 💙💙💙 (also we’re laughing because our daughter had all four fingers over all three lenses and yet somehow it took! May all of 2026 go this way:)” he captioned the post on Thursday, January 1.

Over on her own Instagram account, Bell, 45, shared similar happy snaps from the same celebrations, simply captioning it, “Family 2026 🎉🎊🎈.”

The couple began dating in 2007 before tying the knot in 2013. In March 2013, they welcomed their first child, daughter Lincoln and expanded the family with daughter Delta, who was born in December 2014.

The loved-up post comes after Bell sparked backlash last year after sharing a controversial post to mark their wedding anniversary.

Fans were left divided when Bell uploaded a post of Shepard with their daughters and jokingly praised him for promising to never “kill” her.

“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,❤️’” Bell wrote via the Instagram caption at the time.

“What a wild thing to post during Domestic Violence Awareness month,” one follower responded in the comments section, while another added,“Domestic violence isn’t a joke.”

Yet another follower commented, “I like Kristen Bell but she should not have written that post, particularly during domestic violence month. She needs to issue an apology.”

However, some of her other followers didn’t find the post offensive.

“I was in an abusive marriage for TWENTY THREE YEARS and I love this post. If you don’t want to be triggered, get off the Internet,” one user wrote, while another added, “I was in an abusive relationship and I got out. This post is meant for her husband not to all of us! Why do people have to take it to the next level??? She is talking to her husband but sharing with us. Not everything has a hidden message!”

After the mixed reaction, the Nobody Wants This star limited comments on the post and skipped a planned Today show appearance.

Bell and Shepard have both been candid about their relationship journey over the years, including their rocky beginnings when they briefly went their separate ways.

“I already knew that I was in love with him and he was hesitant because he knew he was still dating other people,” Bell told PopSugar in August 2017. “He sat me down and said, ‘I can’t have this right now. I think you’re wonderful, but I am still dating other people.’ And then I, like, liquefied and fell to the ground, but I felt incredibly respected that he had the balls to tell me we weren’t in the same place.”

She added, “He called me and he was like, ‘I don’t know what I was thinking. I was dating someone else but they’re just not as interesting as you, and I don’t know what I’m doing,’ and he came back. But I still always remind him of when he broke up with me.”

For his part, Shepard appeared to believe he made the right call as he gushed about their relationship almost two decades later.

“I say this all the time, like, if Kristen and I ever split up, I would only describe this as still an enormously successful relationship,” Shepard shared on a September 2025 episode of his “Armchair Expert” podcast. “Like, we loved each other to death. We had these two beautiful children. We had this great time together.”