There have been so many successful smear campaigns against famous women, especially after a divorce or allegations, that seeing the internet be largely on Sophie Turner‘s side after the divorce news this week has been oddly refreshing.
It shouldn’t be, of course. But over the last few years, we’ve seen manipulation campaigns run on Megan Thee Stallion, Evan Rachel Wood, Angelina Jolie, and, most notably, Amber Heard. And misogyny has only grown more insidious online.
But Jonas’ paparazzi photos of him and his kids (and their nanny), which circulated on Wednesday—just after a source told TMZ that Turner was allegedly caught doing something on a Ring camera—felt like it was pulled from the early 2000s PR-spin playbook, where making a famous woman look like a bad mother or mentally unstable was a go-to. And the hits were coming so quickly (and backfiring so quickly) that it became a meme.
People saw through the spin from the first anonymous quote painting Turner as a party girl and Jonas as a homebody, something that can be easily disproven by Turner and Jonas’ own words. And a lot of people had the same comment: They had no real opinion on Jonas before, but this PR campaign turned them against him.
On TikTok, where so much anti-Amber Heard content was produced last summer, this discourse is largely in favor of Turner, and the gossip/PR accounts are calling out the barrage of misogyny from Jonas’ camp.
@laurenisgossip Joe Jonas PR team is doing an amazing job vilanizing Sophie Turner, a young mom in her 20’s. Along with projecting Joe’s issues onto her! Let’s TALK ABOUT IT. #joejonassophieturner #joejonas #sophieturner #joejonassophieturnerdivorce ♬ original sound – Lauren is Gossip
@mollybmcpherson 3/3: Reading into Joe Jonas/Sophie Turner Divorce Announcement. #joejonas #sophieturner #divorce #fyp #pr #mediastatement #prlady #publicity #celebrity ♬ original sound – Molly McPherson | PR
A Daily Mail story predictably attempted to amplify the likes-to-party theory with photos of Turner in a pub, though she is currently filming the upcoming TV series Joan, and it was a wrap party. Receipts from gossip sites are popping back up regarding Jonas as well, some of them going back to 2017.
Yes, media literacy is not good on a variety of other topics, but there is more awareness around certain red flags in relationships now, as the recent Keke Palmer shaming and Jonah Hill allegations show.
