Why Did Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner Divorce? Control, Custody Clashes, and Media Fire
“There were some days that I didn’t know if I was going to make it."
Updated Aug. 25 2025, 12:22 p.m. ET
They seemed like Hollywood’s ultimate pair. Game of Thrones star meets pop prince. But the split between Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner didn’t break overnight. Instead, it was a slow burn of conflict, custody headlines, and control issues, revealed only after the shock faded.
By the time their divorce filings surfaced in 2023, the public was already speculating. The truth behind Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner's split? It's layered, emotional, and much of it played out headline by headline.
Why did Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner divorce? Here’s what we know about the custody fight and who really wanted out.
Inside sources told Us Weekly in September 2023 that Sophie felt stifled by life as a band member’s spouse. Joe’s nonstop touring clashed with her acting ambitions and mothering needs. “Sophie says Joe was too controlling … she didn’t want to always be ‘the Jonas Brother’s wife,’” a source shared.
Several sources revealed to TMZ that a recording from their Ring camera captured Sophie making “not-so-nice” remarks about Joe, nothing scandalous, but enough “final straw” to push him toward divorce. Today reported that Joe said in court documents that "the marriage between the parties is irretrievably broken."
Joe and Sophie initially presented a united front and announced their divorce on Instagram, but that quickly changed, and the fallout snowballed into legal action online and in court. According to E! News, Sophie filed for custody and accused Joe of withholding their daughters’ passports to block their return to England, calling it “wrongful retention.” She dropped the lawsuit in January 2024 after the couple finalized a parenting agreement.
Sophie described her divorce as “incredibly sad” and admitted it was “the worst few days of my life.”
E! News reported from the original filing documents that Sophie felt the split was very sudden and had heard about it first in the media four days after Joe filed for divorce. In a Harper’s Bazaar UK interview, Sophie described her divorce as “incredibly sad,” stressing that their relationship was beautiful but still ended painfully.
She said she was so happy to be back in the U.K., telling Bazaar UK, “It felt as if my life was on pause until I returned to England. I just never really feel like myself when I’m not in London, with my friends and family.”
Sophie says she will never return to the United States.
In an interview with Flaunt, Sophie said of living in the U.K.: “I just feel so at home here; I never want to move again. Living in the States, I didn’t appreciate how much you need friends and family and how integral they are to your wellness until you’re away from them. I came back with an abundance of appreciation for them.”
Her movie Trust was filmed amid the divorce proceedings. On an appearance on Late Night With Seth Meyers on Aug. 14, 2025, she said the movie helped her heal. "I'm not sure if anyone's aware, but when I started shooting this movie, I was going through, like, a media hell. So this was super cathartic because I wanted to run away in my real life when that was all happening, but I got to do it in a movie, and I got to smash some s--t up, so that was fun."
The end of their marriage wasn’t a headline grab, it was a real story of shifting identities, geographically divided parenting, and emotional crisis. Their divorce shows how fame can complicate love, but at least for now, what matters most is what they share outside the spotlight, their kids and their commitment to co-parenting.