By now, just about everyone has caught wind of the news of the Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner divorce. There have been many rumours and allegations thrown about and perhaps even more blatant attempts at character assassination – and somehow, all directed at Sophie Turner.

Joe Jonas and his team have been methodically and consistently attempting to build a case against Sophie Turner’s character for a number of weeks, maybe even months. There has been a clear and sincere endeavour to paint her as a bad wife, mother and an overall ‘party girl’. So far, she stands accused of being a negligent mother, work obsessed and being too young to take her marriage and kids seriously (which begs the question, why choose to marry her if you have a problem with these things). In the media alone, let alone the court of public opinion, there have been hundreds of articles published that support this narrative, with titles including, “Unhappy Joe Jonas tried to salvage Sophie Turner marriage, filed for divorce as a last resort”, “Joe Jonas filed for divorce after allegedly catching Sophie Turner on ring doorbell”, and “Sophie Turner partied without a care in the world just days before Joe Jonas divorce was announced.”

There is something very sinister at play when we examine the fact that Joe Jonas has received very little backlash for his part in the divorce, with the media tending to ignore the fact that he has been on tour rather consistently since 2022 (with the tour not set to end until mid 2024) in favour of accusing Sophie Turner of being away for a couple of months for her filming of the new crime drama Joan. Not only this, but as Joe Jonas held the passports of their two children hostage, which whilst pathetic and ridiculous, was mostly importantly illegal – he also attempted to carry out a ‘pap walk’ with said children. Whilst this in itself might seem tame (albeit blatantly set up to make himself seem like a good and present father), Sophie Turner and himself clearly set out their position on the paparazzi and the privacy of their children from the get-go. She stated once, “We have always advocated for our kids’ right to privacy so sharing...publicly is something that is against anything I stand for. Our children deserve the right to grow up out of the public eye, to learn and grow in private.”

With Joe Jonas flouting the rules him and his now ex-wife set up regarding the privacy of their children and starting a witch-hunt to publicly condemn, vilify and defame her, it is clear that the slander of Sophie Turner is without a doubt grounded in the same kind of misogyny that rules women out as shameful or useless if they are not adequate wives or mothers. Sophie Turner is a fantastic, hard-working, university graduate and renowned actress, and should be treated as such. Whilst it is hard to avoid the negative portrayal of women in media, it is important to remember that women just like Sophie Turner, whoever they are – be it wives, mothers, sisters or friends – have their own identities and should be celebrated for more than their relations to men.