“Not funny at all. What kind of man says that to his wife? Oh wait, I know exactly what kind. Get out now, Kristen,” one commenter said.
“Everyone who thinks this is funny: talk to a DV survivor or the loved one of a DV who was murdered. Please think about the impact you are having,” another wrote.
Neither Bell nor Shepard have addressed the backlash.
The actress, who stars opposite Adam Brody in Netflix’s hit Nobody Wants This, was recently reminded about the special day by entertainment reporters.
At the premiere of the show’s second season last week, Bell told Entertainment Tonight she had forgotten about her upcoming wedding anniversary.
“It helps that he doesn’t remember either. No one’s at fault here, right? We’re just not great with dates.”
Bell and Shepard have been open about their marital problems in the past, publicly detailing the various ups and downs of their relationship since they got together in 2007.
In September 2024, Bell said Shepard was her “polar opposite”.
“We are the antithesis of each other. We argue about absolutely everything, but there is a foundational trust that we’ve built that keeps us together and is quite stimulated by one another’s opinions.”
On a 2020 episode of his podcast Life is Short, she told fellow actor Justin Long one of the couple’s arguments caused them both to “blackout” in anger.