A rumor that famed couple Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard are into group sex is back in full swing — thanks to Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard.
The “Good Place” alum was the guest on her husband’s podcast “Armchair Expert” on Monday, which allowed the very visible pair an opportunity to clear up some misinformation about themselves — including an alleged rumor that they’ve “hosted orgies or swingers’ parties.”
“I know exactly where that came from. It’s because you frequently make key-party jokes,” Bell told Shepard 16 minutes into the episode. “We’ll have a dinner party or something, and as we’re sitting down, you’ll say, ‘Everybody leave your keys.’”
But the quip doesn’t seem to be limited to just friends. Shepard admitted he also makes similar cracks with his podcast guests.
“Some of [the guests], I realize afterwards, ‘Oh, we do not have the same sense of humor,’” he explained. “I was like, ‘Hey, if you guys are ever in L.A. and you wanna swing.’”
Shepard has been making swinger jokes for quite a while, if a 2016 clip from his appearance on “Conan” is any indication. In the clip, Shepard is clearly joking around when he suggests he and host Conan O’Brien swap wives.
When co-host Andy Richter responded to Shepard’s proposal by suggesting Shepard email O’Brien about swapping wives rather than bring it up on a talk show, Shepard responded with:
“I don’t know. I think that’s kind of a great way to break the ice. Because it could be a joke! It’s a comedy show! ‘Remember that time I said I wanted to get you and our wives together on that comedy program of yours? I was just teasing, unless you think that’s a good idea.’”
Which, uh, may exactly be why some people may take the joke seriously?
During her appearance on Shepard’s podcast, Bell lamented the idea that she and her husband have to be careful about what they express publicly.
“A lot of people don’t get jokes,” Bell said of the couple’s shared sense of humor. “That’s actually something I have been thinking about lately because it’s such a bummer that everything you say has to be taken so literally that there’s no room for fun in expression or language anymore when you’re telling a story, because you better have the facts right. It’s just such a lame way to communicate.”
Although there is nothing wrong with having consensual group sex, making that kind of joke in a professional setting — like a podcast celebrities appear on to promote their latest projects — may not be the best idea.
Plus the idiom “There is a grain of truth in every joke” does exist for a reason — and if you make jokes about group sex often enough, people are going to wonder if you’re actually trying to initiate group sex … but, you know, only if you’re into it. If not, then it’s just a joke.