Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's Relationship Timeline

When a celebrity's breakup makes headlines, speculation about what went wrong or who is to blame is rife, as in the case of Joe Jonas asking the divorce from Sophie. 

There were few, if any, signs of marital problems until Labor Day weekend, when the first signs of separation began to appear. Turner, 27, even posted a photo on Instagram with Jonas, 34, during a date night in New York in mid-August, rumors immediately took off when news of the collapse of their seemingly impenetrable marriage spread, making some narratives aimed at supporting one side, in this case Jonas, at Turner's expense and sowing doubt. The popular refrain in these stories was that the Game of Thrones actress was portrayed as a "bad mother," while Jonas was portrayed as a "responsible father," as Glamor puts it. Many recognized the strategy.

In “With many celebrity PR crises or scandals, people are going to fall one way or another,” said crisis PR manager Molly McPherson, who has posted a series of TikTok videos about the media game. by Jonas Turner. “Before social media, the press controlled the narrative. The public now controls the narrative, which makes PR an incredibly difficult tactic in any type of PR or celebrity crisis."

Read More: Ashton Kutcher and Mila Kunis Address Backlash to Danny Masterson Letters

A breakdown of the Jonas-Turner divorce saga

On September 3, rumors that Jonas and Turner were splitting began circulating after TMZ reported that the singer was looking for a divorce lawyer, citing sources who said the couple had been dating for at least six years. ". month. In three of those months, the outlet claimed that Jonas, who was touring the United States with the Jonas Brothers, took care of his two daughters "almost all the time." It described him largely as the girl's primary caregiver. Meanwhile, Turner was in the UK filming the upcoming crime TV series, Joan, a fact not mentioned in the report.

But first for the TMZ report to be published Upon the release, eagle-eyed fans noticed that something was amiss when photos surfaced of Jonas and Turner without their wedding rings. However, that didn't stop the singer from posting a photo with the his brothers on Instagram on September 2, showing off his wedding ring. Confusingly, Jonas was seen wearing his wedding ring again at the Jonas Brothers concert in Austin, Texas on September 3, just hours after the announcement of their impending divorce.

On September 5, Jonas officially filed for divorce from Turner. In divorce papers filed in Miami Dade County, Florida, Jonas claimed that the marriage was "irretrievably broken" and that their children were living with him in Florida and other parts of the country, implying that they were touring with he. The next day, the former couple released a joint statement posted on their respective Instagram accounts in which they "agreed" with the decision, accepted the rumors and dismissed them as "speculative narratives." 

But the “speculative narratives” continued to grow. Things would become more complicated as details emerged about what could have led to the dissolution of the marriage.

Initially, many stories presented Jonas in a more positive light than his ex-wife, who was subtly criticized for "not being an acceptable mother," Vogue wrote. There were paparazzi photos of him having lunch with his daughters in Los Angeles on September 6, in which he looked like a loving and ideal father, while TMZ suggested that Turner's alleged partying style didn't match Jonas' preference to stay in home. . (A resurfaced interview from April 2020 apparently refuted this accusation, with Turner telling Conan O'Brien that she was "introverted" and "intimate," suggesting that Jonas was the "true social butterfly.") According to one report, Jonas he heard something. Turner reportedly said a Ring camera was "the straw that broke the camel's back," but never revealed what it was.

Meanwhile, photos were shown of Turner drinking cocktails in an English bar during Joan's farewell party. Some criticized his carefree attitude in the midst of an impending, high-profile divorce while Jonas was in the United States taking care of his two children. People reported that the couple "agreed that things were improving" while she worked abroad. The Daily Mail reported through an anonymous source that the actress, who was 20 when she started dating Jonas and 23 when they married in 2019, felt "trapped" and wanted to "relive her youth." But people didn't believe it and editorials appeared defending Turner and denouncing her misogyny and mother-shaming.

“This is not” a new narrative: a woman who supposedly performs poorly as a mother and fulfills age-old social expectations regarding women raising their children. “They put the needs of their husbands and children before their own,” Vogue noted, acknowledging the public's astuteness in revealing “the misogynistic undertones of Jonas' accusations.” Rolling Stone expressed a similar opinion: "It's because "seeing a young woman [like Turner] dragged through the mud for being a bad mother simply because she had the audacity to at least try to have a life of her own" is troubling. that in the 2023, the media – and likely Jonas' team – have made a calculated decision to capitalize on decades of intimidating rhetoric from right-wing women making a concerted effort to balance work and family."

Jonas then talked about his "crazy week" on stage at the Jonas Brothers concert in Los Angeles on Saturday.

"Only that is, if you don't hear it from these lips, you don't believe it, okay?" - she said to the audience.

What we can learn from the Jonas-Turner PR debacle

“The split between Jonas and Turner is a public relations lesson gone wrong,” said McPherson, who often works with clients in the entertainment and influencer industries. (McPherson is no relation to Jonas or Turner.) “I think Joe Jonas and his team have learned how difficult it is to win public opinion. And by trying so hard to create his own story, he ended up hurting them. . Attempts to dismiss early reports that cast Turner in a bad light. “I think the reason this PR stunt went badly is because they were trying to influence the narrative all along,” McPherson explained. “When they probably felt it wasn't in their favor, they added more stories to the mix. The risk of this happening in today's social media culture, full of expert users, is that [people] can detect manipulation much more quickly than before."

Read More: 10 Kim Kardashian Looks That Are Stylish And Iconic

“Before social media, it was much easier to control the narrative of a public scandal or, in this case, a celebrity divorce, in the media, because you just had to control the press,” he said. “Today the task is to control all public opinion, an impossible task.” McPherson praises social media platforms like TikTok, which have become a tool where users can listen to different experts on various topics such as therapy and human behavior.

Joe Jonas PR strategy follows these social media posts, teaching people how to recognize gaslighting, how to recognize narcissism, how to recognize the end of a marriage and the end of a separation. Therefore, it is very difficult to influence public opinion and shape discourse when you teach so many social media users how to recognize them, he said.

Divorce of New York attorney Katherine Miller of Miller Law explained why celebrity divorce is "a delicate balance of personal negotiations, litigation and twists."

Miller cited the 2022 Amber Heard and Johnny Depp defamation case as an important precursor. “This case, centered on the opinions of men and women, reignites the controversy over misogyny, mom-shaming and 'super dads,'” she said. “The divorce between Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner is especially significant, even during a summer marked by major celebrity disagreements over 'bad mom' politics. Historically, mothers have been largely responsible for social ills, and many women today reject this idea. Jonas' team seems to hope to improve her image by painting Turner with the "bad mother" brush and holding on to that misogynistic perspective. Turner supporters fight back. to commute? ? “Human beings are tribal by nature, and divorce highlights our natural tendency to decide who is right and who is wrong,” Miller explained. “Celebrities are considered ideal and when they divorce, tribalism is strengthened and divorce becomes more than just the breakdown of a relationship between two people. Instead, society views divorce as more significant. Moral judgments are made. »

It's also human nature to want to be with "other like-minded people," McPherson added, explaining that Jonas and the Turners' divorce it's unique because they have different fan bases. “A lot of them have been following him since they were kids, Joe Jonas fans, so they have to juggle the Joe Jonas they saw on a poster on their bedroom wall and the Joe Jonas who might have virtual goo on him. his wife. . pitches. On the other hand, there are Sophie Turner's die-hard Game of Thrones fans who admire her strength and power as a woman and want to support her strongly."

If there's a lesson to be learned, it's that "you can't influence the entire Internet to think a certain way," McPherson said, adding that "this is not a public relations manual for public control". Opinion.”, which is as close to the truth as you can get. People expect the truth, and if you don't give it to them, they'll find out for themselves."

The end of the silence on the Turner case Winning the final: "A public relations tactic that worked," explained McPherson. "Telling the truth has the luxury of sitting comfortably in his reality. By not speaking while Sophie Turner threw all the dirt at him, he decided not to engage in the back and forth. His silence was the strongest message of the entire week.

By SSP