The news of Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s Sept. 5 split came as a shock to many fans. Now, the two are locked in a legal battle over where to raise their kids, with Jonas wanting to keep their children stateside and England-born Turner hoping to raise them in the United Kingdom.
Since meeting in 2016, the musician, 34, and the Game of Thrones alum, 27 have become a fan-favorite couple, regularly posting photos together on social media and appearing hand-in-hand at public events and on red carpets. The couple made their love legal in 2019, when they famously celebrated their nuptials with an Elvis impersonator-officiated Las Vegas wedding, followed by a second ceremony in France less than two months later.
But as their split has moved forward, the last two weeks have brought a series of twists and turns that have catapulted the former couple into headlines.
Here’s a recap of everything that’s happened recently in the lives of the two stars.
Sept. 5: Joe Jonas files for divorce from Sophie Turner
Jonas officially filed for divorce from Turner on Sept. 5. The following day, Jonas and Turner issued a joint statement on each of their Instagram accounts that after “four years of wonderful marriage” they had “mutually decided to amicably end our marriage.”
“There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children,” the statement continued.
Sept. 5: Debates begin in the media
Despite the statement of an amicable split, some fans believed that Jonas’s team was crafting a narrative about Turner.
The divorce documents were filed in Florida’s Miami Dade County, and stated that the marriage was “irretrievably broken.” It also noted that their children had been living with Jonas in Florida and other parts of the country. A lot of the stories in the media seemed to portray Jonas in a more positive light than Turner, who was being subtly critiqued for “not mothering at an acceptable standard,” Vogue wrote. However, experts say this portrayal ultimately did Jonas no favors.
“The Jonas-Turner split is a lesson in PR spin gone awry,” crisis PR manager Molly McPherson, who posted a series of TikTok videos discussing the Jonas-Turner media play, previously told Yahoo Entertainment. (McPherson has no ties to Jonas nor Turner.) “I think Joe Jonas, or Joe Jonas’s team, learned how difficult it is to herd public opinion. And by trying so hard to craft their narrative, it ended up hurting them in the end.”
Sept. 19: Sophie Turner gets support from celebrity friends
Turner has found support in some unlikely places since the split. On Tuesday, Turner was spotted heading out on the town with Taylor Swift in New York City, USA Today reported. The duo dined together at Italian restaurant Via Carota, a favorite of Swift’s. It’s an unexpected pairing, since Swift and Jonas dated for several months back in 2008.
Turner also received a sign of support on Friday from actress Jessica Chastain, who reposted a tweet from author Roxane Gay that called out “the way Joe Jonas miscalculated his popularity with his transparent attempts at PR manipulation, particularly when the North remembers is FASCINATING. And holding the children’s passports to keep them from their mother? Bruh.”
Chastain and Turner appeared together in the 2019 superhero film Dark Phoenix.
Sept. 21: Sophie Turner files a lawsuit against Joe Jonas
This week, Turner filed a lawsuit against Jonas for allegedly refusing to return the pair’s two children, Willa, 3, and an 18-month-old daughter whose name has not been revealed, to England, USA Today reported. Turner alleged in the legal documents that the kids were supposed to be returned on Wednesday. However, Turner is claiming that Jonas withheld their passports and “refuses to send the children home to England.”
In response to Turner’s lawsuit, Jonas alleged that if he complies with Turner’s request to let the children go to England, he “will be in violation of the Florida Court order,” USA Today continued. Turner subsequently came to New York to be with the children, and they have been with her mother since then, a representative for Jonas told the publication.
Sept 21: Joe Jonas gets emotional onstage
On Thursday evening, during a Jonas Brothers concert at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia, Jonas brought up parenting with the crowd as he started to perform “Little Bird,” US Weekly reported.
“Do we have any parents in the house?”Jonas asked the arena. “If you’re trying to have kids, best of luck.”
When the crooner performed “Hesitate,” a song Jonas had previously proclaimed was his vows to Turner, he was embraced by his brothers, according to US Weekly.
