On September 18, exes Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas were spotted getting lunch together with their two young daughters at Momofuku Noodle Bar Uptown in NYC. According to reports, despite Jonas having filed for divorce on September 5, the former couple seemed amicable enough as they sat alongside their kids in a booth at the casual Midtown restaurant.
The united front didn’t last long. Just two days later, Turner, 27, sued Jonas, 34, claiming their children were being wrongfully detained in the U.S. despite her wishes to take Willa, 3, and their 14-month-old (referred to by her initials, D.J., in court papers) to her native England. In response, a rep for Jonas released a statement to Us saying that Turner had filed in court “only to move the divorce proceedings to the UK and to remove the children from the U.S. permanently.”
On September 25, a judge ordered Turner and Jonas to keep the kids in New York, but sources tell Us there may be no end in sight to the ongoing drama between the singer and the Game of Thrones actress. “Nobody thought things would get this nasty between Joe and Sophie,” one source tells Us of the couple, who were married for four years. “Friends are hopeful they can be mature for the sake of the kids, but neither one is going to acquiesce to the other. This could go on for a very long time.”
The battle over where to live is a big one. In her September 20 filing, Turner says she and Jonas had decided in late 2022 that they would make the UK their permanent home and had found a house to buy in Oxford. A second source says Jonas had agreed to relocate across the pond because “he wanted to make Sophie happy, and he supported her because that is where she wanted to live.”
Now that they’ve split, the source says Jonas “is hoping they can come to an amicable agreement,” noting that Turner is “dead-set on moving to the UK full-time.” Adds a third source: “They’re both laying down these aggressive legal markers, but eventually a compromise will have to be made.”
By most accounts, things between the pair began to go downhill about a year ago. The first source says Turner wasn’t thrilled about Jonas’ decision to go on tour with his brothers Nick and Kevin. “Sophie didn’t want to always be ‘the Jonas brother’s wife,’” says the source. “She didn’t want to go on tour and do everything together. It’s not her personality, and she wanted to keep their family separate from all the Jonas Brothers hoopla.”
The third source says Turner felt overwhelmed juggling her career, two babies and Jonas’ demanding schedule. “Being a mom on the road is not easy, even when you have unlimited resources. It was just hard for them to settle into a regular routine because of Joe’s career especially.”
Back in March, they were spotted looking miserable together at an industry party. “Sophie says Joe was too controlling,” says a fourth source. “She also said Joe liked to flirt a little too much while out in public, but then he wouldn’t like it when she would get too close to her male friends. It was clear their marriage was crumbling.”
Turner fans have accused Jonas of spreading false rumors about the actress, with anonymous sources telling various outlets that Turner is a party girl. (Jonas seemed to address the backlash against him during a September 9 concert in L.A., telling the crowd, “If you don’t hear it from these lips, don’t believe it.”)
“Sophie was essentially painted as a party animal,” says the third source. “She was shocked and hurt.” As for Turner’s claims she found out about the divorce through the media, the second source says the actress and Jonas “had discussed it prior — it’s not true that she learned about it in the press.
Yet another report claimed Jonas had discovered something scandalous via footage from their security camera at home prior to filing for divorce.
The first source says the camera caught Turner saying some not-so-nice things about Jonas to a pal. “It wasn’t anything more than that,” the source says, “but that was the final straw.”
For now, Turner and Jonas are speaking through their lawyers. “Sophie is focused on motherhood, coparenting her girls with Joe and her work projects, in that order,” says the fourth source. “She didn’t plan on being a single mom, but that’s what’s happening, so she’s making the best of it.”
Jonas is leaning on his family. “They know that this divorce was not an easy decision for him, and they’re supporting him in any and every way they can,” shares a fifth source. His brothers’ wives, Priyanka Chopra Jonas and Danielle Jonas, are trying to remain neutral. “They’re being supportive of both of them,” says the second source. “It’s a difficult time. They’re very busy, but wish Sophie and Joe the best in working it out.”
One thing everyone can agree on is that the kids deserve the best outcome. “The most important thing for both Joe and Sophie is the well-being and happiness of their children, so that’s what they’re putting all their effort into,” says the fifth source. “At the end of the day, they both want some resolution.”
