Kristen Bell did not address a controversial post she made last week — or the resulting furor — during her appearance on Thursday’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
The Nobody Wants This actress instead spoke with Fallon about their friendship. She complimented him on his “way of eventizing life,” mentioning that he once jazzed up a karaoke party they both attended by showing up in a full Evel Knievel costume and singing a duet with one of her daughters.
They also discussed her plans for Halloween — she plans to be Carrie Bradshaw-Shank Redemption — and her affinity for knitting. There was some time, too, reserved for her Netflix series.
Whether Bell would be a guest on the late-night talk show at all was up in the air, as the actress had skipped a scheduled appearance on the Today show Wednesday.
That came days after the Frozen star was criticized for an Oct. 17 social media post, in which she attempted a joke while celebrating her union with actor Dax Shepard, whom she married in 2013, after dating since 2007. The joke didn’t go over well.
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“Happy 12th wedding anniversary,” Bell wrote, “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.'”
Critics argued in the comments of the post, which were later restricted, that the words were inappropriate — “tone deaf” and “insensitive” — anytime, and that they were particularly offensive during Domestic Violence Awareness Month.
“Domestic violence isn’t a joke,” someone wrote.
Another remarked, “Is this… supposed to be funny?”
At the same time, Bell’s defenders noted that her post, which was accompanied by a photo of her and husband embracing, was typical of their dark humor.
Dax Shepard and Kristen Bell attend the Golden Globe Awards in January.
Francis Specker/CBS via Getty
Bell’s post remained up, though, and she made the media rounds for her latest project; for instance, she was a guest on Thursday’s edition of The Kelly Clarkson Show, but, unlike The Tonight Show, at least some of those appearances were pre-recorded.
The second season of Bell’s series Nobody Wants This is now streaming on Netflix.