Kristen Bell Rocks Black Dress as She Attends Critics Choice Awards Solo

Kristen Bell appears to be enjoying a solo night at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards.

The actress, 45, seemingly attended the event at Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, California, on Sunday, January 4, alone, posing for the red carpet by herself as she stunned in a black halter gown featuring lace cut outs. Inside the show, Bell was seen sitting beside Nobody Wants This costar Adam Brody during host Chelsea Handler‘s monologue.

Bell is nominated for Best Actress in a Comedy Series for Nobody Wants This at the 2026 Critics Choice Awards. She is competing in the category against Poker Face’s Natasha Lyonne, Ghosts’ Rose McIver, The Righteous Gemstones’ Edi Patterson, Elsbeth’s Carrie Preston and Hacks’ Jean Smart.

Bell’s awards show appearance comes two months after she made headlines for her anniversary tribute to husband Dax Shepard.

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“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 captioned an October 2025 Instagram post, in which she and Shepard embraced on the edge of a bed.

Some fans criticized Bell’s seemingly casual reference to intimate partner violence.

“Domestic violence isn’t a joke,” one person commented, while another person wrote, “1. Congratulations! 2. I know the caption is supposed to be cute, funny, but worldwide a women [sic] is killed every 10 minutes by their partner … #stopviolenceagainstwomen.”

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Meanwhile, others in the comments section defended Bell’s message to Shepard.

“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 social media user wrote.

Another person chimed in: “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!”

Bell ultimately limited comments on the Instagram post. She has yet to publicly address the controversy.

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Bell and Shepard — who share daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 11 — recently took a step back from the spotlight to celebrate the holidays at their home in Nashville, Tennessee.

“We’re going to spend Christmas there and Thanksgiving,” Shepard teased during a November 2025 episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! while revealing that a close friend fell off the roof while transforming the property into a “winter wonderland” for the couple.

“Our contractor was there and photographed the whole thing,” Shepard said. “So, we have great photos. We’ll think of it this Christmas as we’re enjoying the lights. He went way over the top. … He was there for days just chucking [lights] all over the property. It would take him two weeks to take them down.”

Bell added, “The house looks like it’s on colorful fire. It’s so bright.”