Actor and podcast host Dax Shepard is opening up about a parenting choice that’s raising eyebrows — and he’s perfectly fine with that.

On a recent episode of his “Armchair Expert” podcast, Shepard explained why he and his wife, Kristen Bell, allow their daughters Lincoln, 12, and Delta, 10, to talk back to adults, even when it comes across as disrespectful.

“[Our friends] are kind of shook with how our daughters will talk back to us or to anybody, because it’s very un-Southern, right?” Shepard said. “Down there, everyone’s like, ‘Hi, Ms. Kristen. Hi, Mr. Dax.’”

He said a friend recently pointed out the girls’ behavior bluntly. “She’s like, ‘Yeah, your kids will let it rip,’” he recalled. “‘They seem to have no kind of respect’ is what she was saying. And feeling a little entitled. I said, ‘You’re dead right. They do talk back, and they are not respectful.’”

Shepard admits the whole idea can sound chaotic or poorly disciplined. “Completely unruly,” he added. But for him, there’s a purpose behind the approach.

“But I want you to know what I’m prioritizing, which is when they’re 19 and their boss is a f—— creep, I want them to talk back,” he said. “I want them to be disrespectful. I want them to always advocate for themselves, whether I think they’re right or wrong.”

Because of that long-term goal, he’s not overly bothered by how others view his parenting or how his kids behave in public. “I’m willing to deal with how others perceive me” and the “embarrassing” moments that come with it, he shared. “I can handle that. Because I want this other thing for them as women.”

This isn’t the first time Shepard and Bell have faced criticism over their unconventional approach to raising their daughters. In 2023, Bell pushed back on online reactions after she mentioned letting her kids occasionally drink non-alcoholic beer.

Bell addressed the backlash directly. “They’re allowed to be upset about that because they’re not their kids,” she said. “It’s not your kid, you can think whatever you want.”

Shepard jumped in with a fact many people didn’t know: orange juice has a 0.5% alcohol by volume (ABV), while non-alcoholic Heineken has 0.0%. Bell said the criticism revealed something deeper about how the public responds to parenting choices.

“What’s so cute about you to me is that you are so logical and fact-driven and evidence-based, but if people want to be angry about something, they’re going to be angry about it,” she told Shepard. “Of course, they could look up other foods that have different ABVs.”

She added that people ignored the real context: the girls sometimes order NA beer because of a special connection to their dad. “Because, first of all, they’re 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.”

Shepard said he tends to get defensive when people “insinuate” Bell is a bad mom. But Bell remains firm in her choices.

“If anyone has a problem that I let my kids drink NA beer sometimes, that’s fine with me,” she said. “Because I’m not going to change based on what anybody else says, because this is our family and not your business.”