LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - OCTOBER 15: (L-R) Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner attend the 2nd Annual Academy Museum Gala at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on October 15, 2022 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Frazer Harrison/Getty Images)
Before Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner agreed to begin four days of mediation this week to work through their child custody issues, the singer reportedly considered leaking some more negative claims about his estranged wife, alleging that she twice chose to go out with her new BFF Taylor Swift instead of spending time with their young daughters.
Over the weekend, the gossip site, Crazy Days and Nights, revealed that Jonas was the singer mentioned in a Sept. 23 blind item. This singer, according to the blind item, planned to leak a story that his “actress ex” had “two chances to spend time with his kids” the week of Sept. 23 but instead went out with a certain “A+ list singer.” Crazy Days and Nights revealed that the “actress ex” is “Game of Thrones” star Turner, and the singer is Swift.
This alleged leak would fit the early PR strategy deployed by Jonas and his team after he filed for divorce on Sept. 1: Use media leaks to portray 27-year-old Turner, his wife of four years, as a bit immature and more interested in partying and reliving her lost youth than in being a hands-on mother to their daughters, 3 and 1.
When Jonas, 34, filed for divorce, Turner had been in her native U.K., filming a TV series. She flew to New York on Sept. 14, where she was reunited with her daughters. The girls had spent August in the care of their father, who was touring the United States with his Jonas Brothers band. Turner also alleged in court papers she left her daughters with Jonas in America “with some hesitation,” while also saying that he’d have the help of a nanny.
Paparazzi captured photos of Turner with her daughters out and about in New York City a few times. But more noticeably, they captured images of her going out to multiple, high-profile dinners with Swift, reportedly heading to a club where they stayed out until 2 .m., and hanging out with the singer and a gang of celebrity friends in the luxury suite at MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey, Sunday night. There, the group watched the NFL game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the New York Jets, and Swift created more viral moments by cheering on her reported boyfriend, Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
It’s been widely reported that Jonas’ reported P.R. strategy — to leak stories portraying himself as a devoted, hands-on dad, in contrast to Turner’s supposed maternal indifference — hasn’t worked. Turner’s fans immediately pounced on what they said was his transparent, “sexist” attempt to drag his estranged wife’s reputation through the mud.
Once Swift entered the picture, Turner found a powerful ally in her divorce fight. For one thing, Swift dated Jonas when they were teenagers and wrote a song, “Mr. Perfectly Fine,” about a “casually cruel” ex-boyfriend, who could be Jonas.
Even more useful for Turner: Swift’s Eras world tour has made her the most famous and successful entertainer on earth right now, capable of filling stadiums, boosting the U.S. economy and perhaps even influencing the 2024 presidential election. Turner arguably is far more famous than her one-time boyfriend, and she has her legion of online fans, the Swifties, who have been more than happy to celebrate the female solidarity the singer has shown by being “a shoulder” for Turner to lean on during this difficult time in her life.
Swift’s support for Turner also has extended to her allowing the actor to stay in her New York City townhouse as she and Jonas work through this phase of their custody dispute.
Given the Taylor Swift of it all, it’s probably no surprise that Jonas and his team decided against attempting another round of leaks meant to undermine Turner, especially if those leaks dragged Swift’s name into the drama.
The estranged couple are fighting what has turned out to be a transatlantic custody battle, with Turner saying she wants to raise their daughters in the U.K. and Jonas saying his daughters were born in the U.S. and therefore should be raised in America. The custody fight is also being heard in three separate courts — Miami, New York City and the U.K., as their legal teams argue which court should have jurisdiction. For the time being, Jonas and Turner have agreed to have their daughters remain in the New York City area.
A hearing took place Tuesday in New York’s U.S. District Court, where lawyers for the estranged couple revealed that they are set to start the four-day mediation, which will hopefully resolve some of issues in their divorce and establish temporary custody and a parenting plan for their daughters. In court, Turner’s lawyer Stephen Cullen said that Jonas, 34, is asking for joint custody, saying that “what he was looking for is a 50-50.”
Cullen also said that both parents have been spending time with their children, “which is what we all want.”
The mediation comes after Turner sued her estranged husband for wrongful retention in the New York federal court, alleging that Jonas was “wrongfully” and illegally withholding their children’s passports and not allowing them to return with her to England.
Before their relationship broke down, Turner said that she and Jonas planned to make England their home base after leading a peripatetic lifestyle during their four years of marriage. She said they were in the process of buying a “forever home” near Oxford. Turner also hit back at Jonas’ portrait of her as an indifferent mother, saying she had been the girls’ primary “day-to-day” caregiver. Meanwhile, through a representative, Jonas denied trying to “abduct” his daughters and said he had hoped to work out an amicable co-parenting relationship with his estranged wife.
Originally published at Martha Ross