Sophie Turner sues Joe Jonas to return their children to England

NEW YORK – British actress Sophie Turner sued her husband, American musician Joe Jonas, on Thursday and requested that their two children be returned to England.

The couple announced their plan to divorce in September.

Turner said Jonas had refused to give her the children’s passports, preventing them from returning to their “habitual residence” in England, according to a petition filed in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

The children are dual citizens of the US and Britain, according to court documents, which identified them by the initials W.R.J., born in 2020, and D.M.J., born in 2022.

Mr Jeff Raymond, a representative for Jonas, said in an e-mailed statement that an order filed in the Florida court, where the divorce proceedings were initiated, restricted both parents from relocating the children.

If Jonas provided Turner with the passports, the statement said, he would be violating that order.

“Joe is seeking shared parenting with the kids so that they are raised by both their mother and father, and is of course also okay with the kids being raised both in the US and the UK,” said the statement. “The children were born in the US and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the US.”

Turner and Jonas began dating in October 2016 and married in Las Vegas in May 2019.

Their marriage broke down “very suddenly”, according to Turner’s petition, which said she learnt that Jonas had filed for divorce from the news media.

The statement from Jonas’ representatives denies this claim, saying multiple conversations took place and “Sophie was aware that Joe was going to file for divorce”.

Turner’s lawsuit said the couple moved frequently because of their careers. The couple decided to move to England while they were there for Christmas in 2022, and had made it their permanent home in April 2023, according to the petition.

“All throughout their marriage, and particularly after their children were born, the parties often discussed their desire to raise their children in England and for their children to attend school in England,” said the petition.

“The parties regarded England as a safe location to raise their children.”

In July, the couple exchanged contracts with sellers to buy a home in Oxford, England, with a planned completion date for the sale of Dec 2, the petition said.

Rumours of their impending divorce started appearing in tabloids in early September and seemingly negative stories about Turner were published around the time of the divorce filing.

“Joe has already disavowed any and all statements purportedly made on his behalf that were disparaging of Sophie,” Mr Raymond said.

The couple jointly announced their divorce in identical statements posted on their Instagram accounts on Sept 6.

“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,” the statement said.

In one of her first public appearances since the divorce was announced, Turner was seen this week with American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift at Via Carota, a restaurant in New York. NYTIMES