Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas child abduction lawsuit officially dismissed in light of custody agreement
Attorneys for Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas asked that a child abduction lawsuit be dropped.
(Jordan Strauss / Invision / Associated Press)
Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas’ contentious divorce battle seems to be simmering down.
The “Game of Thrones” star asked a judge to dismiss the lawsuit she filed in September accusing Jonas of child abduction. In new legal documents obtained by The Times, attorneys for the former couple asked the New York judge overseeing their case to drop the suit in light of an agreed-upon parenting plan. On Wednesday, the case was officially closed.
In September, the “Dark Phoenix” star sued Jonas after he allegedly kept their daughters, ages 1 and 3, in the U.S. without her consent, withheld the children’s passports and refused to return the girls to England.
A spokesperson for Jonas denied that he had “abducted” the girls, accused Turner of attempting to remove the children from the United States permanently and urged Turner to “reconsider her harsh legal position and move forward in a more constructive and private manner.”
About two weeks after the actor filed the suit, Jonas and Turner reached a temporary custody agreement regarding the care of their two daughters. Jonas filed to dismiss the custody portion of their divorce case in Florida because that part had been resolved, and “the rest of the case was abated to see if the parties can resolve it themselves,” a Jonas spokesperson told The Times. Days later, they agreed to navigate their split privately.
Court documents filed in New York City and reviewed by The Times revealed that Jonas and Turner agreed to share custody of their daughters, who will split their time between the United Kingdom with their mother and the United States with their dad.
“After a productive and successful mediation, we have agreed that the children will spend time equally in loving homes in both the U.S. and the UK. We look forward to being great co-parents,” Jonas and Turner said in a joint statement.
Jonas filed for divorce from Turner last year after four years of marriage, stating that their relationship was “irretrievably broken.” Not long after the filing, the former couple released a joint statement addressing speculation about their divorce.
“After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage,” their joint Instagram posts said. “There are many speculative narratives as to why but, truly this is a united decision and we sincerely hope that everyone can respect our wishes for privacy for us and our children.”
Times staff writers Nardine Saad and Christi Carras contributed to this report.
Emily St. Martin is an entertainment reporter on the Fast Break Desk. Before joining the Los Angeles Times, she contributed to the New York Times, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, NBC, Vice, Los Angeles Magazine and the Southern California News Group. She also previously worked at the Hollywood Reporter. In 2022, she won third place for best news feature with the L.A. Press Club. St. Martin has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of La Verne and a master’s in creative nonfiction from UC Riverside.
