Kristen Bell Says It's "Not Your Business" That Her Kids Drink Nonalcoholic Beers

Kristen Bell is doubling down on her parenting choices. On the Aug. 14 episode of the podcast "Armchair Expert," hosted by Bell's husband, Dax Shepard, the "The Good Place" star defended her decision to let her kids drink nonalcoholic (NA) beer.

The actor says that she and Shepard have gotten some flack since she first opened up about her kids' eccentric beverage choice on "The Kelly Clarkson Show" on July 24 — and she's tired of it being taken out of context.

Shepard has been on a sobriety journey for many years and has been very open about his recovery from substance use with the public and with their kids. "When they have tried to order NAs at a restaurant or something, it's because of a very specific connection to you," Bell reiterated to her husband during the podcast.

Bell previously explained to Clarkson that her kids' love of NA beer started with nightly walks with Shepard: "He's a recovering addict, but he likes nonalcoholic beer, so he'd pop one open, he'd have [our oldest daughter] on his chest, and we'd walk and look at the sunset." She added, "I think it feels to her like something special, something daddy, something family."

Really, an NA beer "is like a very nostalgic feeling for them and they like the taste of it," she explained during the podcast.

Because of these early childhood memories, Bell said her two daughters, 9-year-old Lincoln and 8-year-old Delta, still request nonalcoholic drinks from time to time when they're out to eat together. "We've been at restaurants where she's said, 'Do you have any nonalcoholic beer?' and I'm like . . . maybe we just keep that for home time," Bell told Clarkson. "But then I'm also sort of like, you can judge me if you want, I'm not doing anything wrong. Like that's your problem."

Since sharing this story, Bell and Shepard have received tons of criticism around their parenting style. "It just turned into 'I let my kids drink' and I'm like, none of this seems to connect, seeing you're so open about sobriety and addiction and we're a family that strives to educate everyone about substances," she said with frustration on Shepard's podcast. She also explained that her kids are very educated on "addiction and what substances are and how they affect your body and how scary they are and what they can do to you."

Ultimately, despite the backlash, Bell remains unbothered. "If anyone has a problem that I let my kids drink NA beer sometimes, that's fine with me, because I'm not going to change based on what anyone else does because this is our family and not your business," Bell stated on the podcast.

She has previously spoken about her open approach to parenting, sharing how she talks to her daughters about complex subjects like mental health and sobriety. "There should be no topic that's off the table for people to talk about," Bell said in a Feb. 9 interview with Real Simple. "There are all these 'hard topics' that don't have to be if you give the person on the other end your vulnerability and a little bit of credit."