This summer’s trend of celebrity decoupling, aka Hot Divorce Summer, has claimed a final pair of victims as the season draws to a close: Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner. Jonas, the 34-year-old American singer known for making up one-third of the Jonas Brothers and one-fourth of the pop-funk group DNCE, and Turner, the 27-year-old English actress of Game of Thrones and X-Men: Apocalypse fame, happily tied the knot in 2019. The couple seemed to enjoy a mostly private, drama-free, uniformly well-regarded relationship—until messy rumors of divorce began circulating this past weekend, sparking unexpectedly widespread grief, confusion, and agitation among a surprisingly large portion of the public. (And, apparently, Academy Award–winning actress Marion Cotillard? More on that later.)
As a lifelong Jonas Brothers stan—with a particular fondness for Joe, of the three Jonas brother-bandmates—I deeply relate to the mass shock and awe rippling across certain segments of the population. But the sheer magnitude of online uproar at this celebrity divorce (and the intense speculation surrounding it) has caught plenty of unassuming internet scrollers by surprise. You may be wondering: What’s the big deal, and why am I being confronted with this on Slate.com? Read on for our best attempt at explaining what’s going on and why it’s actually not that surprising that this news has taken over celebrity gossip circles across the internet.
Let’s start from the beginning: How did these two (former) lovebirds meet?
Jonas and Turner began dating in 2016, when Jonas slid into Turner’s Instagram DMs—doing some quick math, that would make Turner about 20 years old and Jonas about 27—and they got married (twice!) three years later. Since 2019, the pair has welcomed two daughters, the Jonas Brothers came back after a six-year breakup to go on three world tours (the latest of which they’re currently in the middle of), and DNCE ended its hiatus to release a few singles. Meanwhile, Turner—whose biggest role was as Sansa Stark on Game of Thrones from 2011 to 2019—has appeared in a smattering of underperforming miniseries and cameoed in Netflix’s hit teen flick Do Revenge.
As far as the public was concerned, the couple’s relationship appeared to be pretty blissful. They were widely considered the “best” couple of the three musical Jonai—younger brother Nick Jonas is married to Indian actress Priyanka Chopra, and older brother Kevin Jonas is married to normie Danielle Deleasa, who starred alongside Kevin in the short-lived reality show Married to Jonas—which perhaps contributed to the emotional investment that many fans are feeling. Long story short: We were rooting for them!
OK, so fairy-tale marriage, rock star husband, glamorous actress wife—if everything seemed so perfect, then why are they splitting now?
Things likely weren’t as perfect as they appeared from the outside. Rumors of their potential divorce began to circulate over Labor Day weekend. The split was ultimately confirmed on Tuesday, when news outlets reported that Jonas had filed for divorce from Turner, writing in the divorce petition that the “marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken.”
“Irretrievably broken”? That’s, um, intense wording.
It definitely sounds more dramatic than the generic “irreconcilable differences” that we’re used to seeing in celebrity divorce statements. Lord only knows what that phrase means in this context, but that hasn’t stopped the rumor mill from doing its thing. Some outlets are reporting that the two seemed to be struggling for months, with TMZ citing a disconnect between the two stars’ lifestyles. A source told the tabloid that Turner wanted to go out more, while Jonas wanted to settle down. This hearsay is being supplemented with reports that Jonas has been in primary custody of their two daughters for the past few months—apparently taking them on tour—while Turner has been filming a new project in the U.K. Finally, continuing the rumors, Page Six is reporting that Jonas tried to salvage the relationship, while TMZ is reporting that Jonas allegedly caught Turner doing or saying something on a Ring camera that convinced him to file for divorce.
Huh, sounds like these rumors are all pretty slanted in the guy’s favor.
I love Joe dearly, but even I have to agree that it seems that way! This is partly what so many observers on social media—especially women—are reacting to. Many are pointing out that, if the tabloid coverage is being fed by people from Jonas’ camp, it seems to be carefully calibrated to paint Turner as a bad mom. After all, just because someone might like having fun and partying, doesn’t mean they’re a bad parent. Plus, commentators have noted, Turner has spent most of her 20s putting her career on hold to birth and raise two children—if Jonas can go on three world tours and revive two music groups (and party, himself!), then surely Turner is entitled to some time to restart her career. Also, I’m not entirely comfortable with the idea of using Ring cameras to spy on our spouses, but that’s just me.
As journalist Laura Bassett tweeted: “I think I’m supposed to gather from all the carefully placed headlines that she’s a partier and thus a bad mom, while he is the hero dad making sacrifices, but no one seems to question why he at 30 decided to marry a 23-year-old and thought she’d suddenly turn into a tradwife.”
Wait, can you remind me: How is Marion Cotillard involved in all this?
To many people’s amusement, it seems that famous people are not immune to fangirling celebrity relationships. Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard showed her distress in the comments of an ET Instagram post about the divorce, writing “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! NO! NO! NO! NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” (I feel you, Marion.)
So what do Jonas and Turner have to say about it?
Jonas and Turner released a joint statement via Instagram on Wednesday morning stating that they have “mutually decided to amicably end” their marriage. They also vaguely address the “many speculative narratives,” simply stating that the breakup was a “united decision.”
How are you feeling about it, as a self-proclaimed Jonas Brothers stan?
Not great, thanks for asking! I can neither confirm nor deny the rumor that I have wanted to marry Joe Jonas since I was 13 years old, nor can I comment on the ethical implications of Jonas and Turner’s coupling. However, what I can say is that it’s always upsetting to see a relationship fall apart, especially one that many found refreshing or admirable, and especially when the surrounding context appears to be a little messy. If there’s a lesson in any of this, it’s to approach gossip and certain narratives with a critical eye before more information is available. Second, we clearly still haven’t learned to mind the business that pays us. (Yes, even me.) Now, if you need me, I’ll be busy crying to the Jonas Brothers’ self-titled 2007 album on repeat.
