Dax Shepard's "Profound Pleasure" Revelation and Billy Crudup's Enduring Embarrassment
Dax Shepard once caught an unexpected glimpse into Billy Crudup's intensely private personal life.
“On one unique occasion, I was privileged to hear Billy in the throes of passion,” the 50-year-old Shepard revealed on his “Armchair Expert” podcast on Monday, November 17. “I aim to describe this with utmost respect and avoid any offense to Billy, but truly, I have never in my entire life witnessed anyone experiencing such profound pleasure. It left me feeling quite inadequate and self-conscious.”
Crudup, now 57, confessed that he has replayed that incident in his mind “countless times” and is “certain that other individuals within the residence” were responsible for the sounds, rather than himself and his companion.
“My primary thought was, ‘Will this ever conclude?’” Shepard lightheartedly recounted. “Nonetheless, upon encountering Billy, I felt compelled to share that I frequently recall that moment, despite it occurring two decades prior.”
Mary Louise Parker and Billy Crudup: A Retrospective of Their Relationship
Crudup playfully suggested that Shepard has “been hitting the weights” relentlessly since then, implying he’s “endeavoring to rival” the Almost Famous actor.
“My wife, Kristen Bell, has never produced sounds quite like those I witnessed two decades ago,” Shepard further commented.
Though Crudup remained discreet about the identity of his partner from that particular intimate encounter, his current wife, Naomi Watts, recently divulged details about their initial sexual experience together.
“I won't cause him any undue embarrassment by discussing it extensively on television, but I was utterly mortified because I was wearing my transdermal patch,” the 57-year-old Watts shared on The Drew Barrymore Show in January, referencing a skin patch she used for menopause symptom relief.
“Anyone who has ever used such a patch understands how incredibly tacky they are; the adhesive is incredibly difficult to remove,” she proceeded. “Indeed, the initial physician who prescribed the patch advised me to simply apply car oil, claiming it would suffice. My immediate thought was, ‘I hardly wish to apply motor oil to my skin.’”
Watts, who also recounted this uncomfortable episode in her memoir Dare I Say It: Everything I Wish I’d Known About Menopause, eventually attempted to remove the patch by simply pulling it off. As intimacy intensified between her and Crudup, she recounted that she “made an excuse, rushed to the restroom, and began to panic” over the sticky residue the patch had imprinted on her skin.
“I likely had a pair of them affixed to each side,” Watts further explained. “My absence in the bathroom extended for too long, and I emerged somewhat flustered, at which point he inquired, ‘Are you alright, or are you simply not feeling amorous?&rdquo
Ultimately, Watts chose to be candid with Crudup, remembering her words to him: “No, it’s just, well, you see, I’m navigating menopause, and I’m undergoing treatment with this patch, and I’m wearing it, and it leaves this mark… I feel old, perhaps I should just depart?”
Crudup’s reply was, “Our ages are identical. We are contemporaries. What is this sensation? This is merely a biological process. How might I assist you?”
Crudup's path crossed with Watts' during the production of Gypsy in 2017, a year after her separation from Liev Schreiber, with whom she co-parents their sons Sasha, 18, and Kai, 16. The pair exchanged vows in New York City in June 2023, with a subsequent family-focused celebration taking place in Mexico a year thereafter.
Billy Crudup’s Romantic Journey: From Mary-Louise Parker to Naomi Watts
The esteemed actor from The Morning Show had two other widely publicized romantic partnerships preceding his union with Watts. He commenced a relationship with Mary-Louise Parker in 1996, having first encountered her as a fellow cast member in the Broadway production Bus Stop. By 2003, as Parker, currently 61, approached her seventh month of pregnancy with their son, William, Crudup departed from the actress to embark on a romance with Claire Danes, his colleague from the 2005 movie Stage Beauty.
Although Parker has never explicitly discussed the specifics of her separation from Crudup, she subtly referenced their breakup in her 2015 autobiography, Dear Mr. You.
“I find myself solitary. Observe, do you not? I am expectant and isolated. Even the act of breathing causes pain,” she penned in a letter addressed to the New York City taxi driver who became disoriented en route to Parker's medical appointment.
Crudup and Danes, now 46, ended their relationship in 2007. The prominent actress from Homeland offered a concise reflection on their separation in a 2009 discussion with Blackbook magazine.
“My decision to fall in love was a conscious one,” she stated. “Being portrayed in such an unflattering light [by the media] is disagreeable, yet I felt it essential to maintain my resolve. I continued to conduct my life with the consistent integrity I had always upheld.”
