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Kristen Bell, Dax Shepard 'wait for the stink' to bathe children, Internet calls it 'neglect'

Bell just announced she relies on biology to warn her when her children need to be bathed and social media can't handle this 'white people privilege'

Kristen Bell, who is usually on the right side of social media's good books, seems to have stirred an outrage of disgust and child neglect accusation after revealing the frequency at which she bathes her kids. The evergreen voice of 'Gossip Girl' opened up on a talk show appearance with husband Dax Shepard, sharing that she follows biology's indication to decide when she should bathe her kids. The indication, in her case, happens to be a stink. As long as her kids are not stinking, Bell doesn't bathe them.

The 'Veronica Mars' actor's reveal arrived during a joint interview with her husband on 'The View', where she admitted she prefers to "wait for the stink" before bathing her children. This seems to have particularly irked social media, not just for hygienic reasons, but especially because not long ago Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher made some similar claims about bathing their children. While Kunis and Kutcher don't bathe their kids unless there's dirt on them, social media feels much more angered with Bell as they claim if this parent was a person of color, it would be dubbed "neglect".

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Shepard, 46, who shares six-year-old daughter Delta, and eight-year-old son Lincoln, with Bell, 41, began by saying: "We bathed our children every single night prior to bed as the routine, then somehow they just started going to sleep on their own without the routine and by George we had to start saying like, 'Hey, when was the last time you bathed them?'" Bell then chimed in with her sixth sense, claiming: "I'm a big fan of waiting for the stink. Once you catch a whiff, that's biology's way of letting you know you need to clean it up." Bell continued: "There's a red flag. Honestly, it's just bacteria; once you get bacteria you gotta be like, 'Get in the tub or the shower.' So I don't hate what they're are doing. I wait for the stink."

This, clearly, did not sit well with social media, especially after Kutcher and Kunis revealed their unusual bathe schedule on Shepard's Armchair Expert. "This public celebration of being unclean is very strange," one user tweeted as reports of Bell's comments on bathing went viral. "Like if you want to bask in your own filth in the privacy of your home, you don't need to share that with the world," they added. Another called out celebrity culture of oversharing, tweeting: "Laughing @ attention seeking adults. Why are they even talking? That’s my take. This couple needs to sit down and get off social media. Or maybe do something else w their free time. Perhaps volunteer." 

Others complained: "White people do this and it’s parenting, POC do this and it’s neglect. SMDH!" One user called out privilege, tweeting: "Bragging about being disgusting is white privilege." Some were even left confused, "why is it suddenly a trend for white celebs to admit they neglect their kids???" Another lamented: "i cant look at mila kunis and kristen bell normally ever again because now i know they dont bathe their kids jfc" Prayers poured in too, as a user tweeted: "Lord, come pick up your white people. They need Jesus. And soap." And then came every celebrity's worst nightmare, with one user declaring: "I thought they were cute. Now I have to cancel them. This week is full of celebrity disappointments".