Joe Jonas filed for divorce from Sophie Turner on Sept. 5 — and it’s been a battle every step of the way.
The pair, who were married for four years, have entered mediation to establish a parenting and custody plan for their two daughters and hammer out divorce details. The mediation is expected to last four days.
In the wake of the 34-year-old Jonas Brothers singer’s divorce filing, the Game of Thrones actress, 27, accused her soon-to-be ex of the “wrongful retention” of their daughters, Willa, 3, and Delphine, 1, for prohibiting her from taking them to England. The pair, married since 2019, have a trial date in that case while also navigating their divorce proceedings.
Here’s everything we know…
Sept. 5
He makes the filing in Miami, where they shared a home until recently, for a dissolution of marriage. The docs state that the marriage “is irretrievably broken.”
Her team claims she found out about the divorce filing through the media.
Sept. 6
In a post shared to both their Instagram accounts, Turner and Jonas— who were married by an Elvis impersonator officiant in Las Vegas in 2019 followed by a second ceremony in France shortly after — said they “mutually decided to amicably end our marriage.” They also slammed “speculative narratives” around the split, largely that she was partying while he was taking care of the kids, and asked for privacy for their girls.
Sept. 21
The federal lawsuit, filed in New York City federal court, claims Jonas is withholding the passports of their children, who have dual citizenship in the U.S. and U.K. The British actress alleges they moved to England in the spring, after putting their Miami home on the market, with the intention of making it their “forever home.” She went into production on Joan, which shot from May to September, so Jonas took the kids on tour with him in the U.S. because he was the parent with more free time. They went into contract on a new house there in July with plans to close in December; they split after a blowout fight in August. Turner claims the plan had been for her to collect the kids in mid-September in New York and bring them back to England while Jonas continued touring. She claims they met Sept. 17 in NYC, after his filing, and he refused to turn over the kids passports for the planned travel, resulting her filing her international custody dispute case in the U.S. and U.K.
Jonas slams her “misleading” claims.
“After multiple conversations with Sophie, Joe initiated divorce proceedings in Florida, as Florida is the appropriate jurisdiction for the case,” according to a statement from Jonas’s camp. “Sophie was aware that Joe was going to file for divorce. The Florida Court has already entered an order that restricts both parents from relocating the children. Sophie was served with this order on September 6…”
“Joe and Sophie had a cordial meeting this past Sunday in New York, when Sophie came to New York to be with the kids. They have been with her since that meeting,” it continued. “Joe’s impression of the meeting was that they had reached an understanding that they would work together towards an amicable co-parenting setup.”
He claimed 24 hours later, Turner said she wanted to permanently take the children to the U.K. It said that if he complied, he would have been in violation of the Florida Court order. He said he was OK with the children splitting their time between the U.S. and U.K., but they are American citizens and have lived primarily in the U.S.
“This is an unfortunate legal disagreement about a marriage that is sadly ending,” the statement said. “When language like ‘abduction’ is used, it is misleading at best, and a serious abuse of the legal system at worst. The children were not abducted. After being in Joe’s care for the past three months at the agreement of both parties, the children are currently with their mother. Sophie is making this claim only to move the divorce proceedings to the U.K. and to remove the children from the U.S. permanently.”
Jonas asked Turner to reconsider “her harsh legal position and move forward in a more constructive and private manner.”
Sept 25
The pair reach a temporary decision to keep the children in the Southern and Eastern districts of New York — including New York City, Long Island and the Hudson Valley — while a permanent ruling is worked out. Turner moves into her pal Taylor Swift’s rental property. The exes take turn having custody of the girls.
Oct. 2
A letter from Jonas to the homeowner of the Wallingford, Oxford, England, they are in contract in is leaked. In it, Jonas talked about how he and Turner decided they they would be looking for a “permanent home” there. “We could tell that your family have truly loved living here and we can envision our children growing up here and making this our forever home. I really think Sophie and I will be able to look after [redacted names] and for many years pay homage to the magic you have created here,” it says.
A divorce attorney explains to Yahoo that a child’s legal residence is determined by where the children have resided for the last six months. Turner is trying to argue that they have made the U.K. home since April.
Oct. 3
Attorneys for the exes appear in Manhattan federal court for a pretrial conference to determine child custody. A trial date is set for Jan. 2. The attorneys tell the judge they will be in mediation simultaneously on their divorce and custody starting the next day. It’s also revealed that they have a in-person divorce hearing, in Florida, on Dec. 14.
Oct. 4
The process, facilitated by a neutral mediator, will attempt to help the divorcing spouses reach mutually beneficial agreements related to the divorce as well as the custody of their children. There’s the hope that the couple will settle the case and avoid court.
A recent example of a celebrity couple turning to a mediator was when Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen ended their marriage in 2022. They made settlements on both property settlement and custody, and their divorce was finalized the same day they announced their split.
