Celebrity lives are frequently the subject of incessant media scrutiny in the age of social media and the 24-hour news cycle. No exception was made with the recent announcement of Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas’s divorce. From the moment news of the divorce hit headlines, the information has been fast to come out, and Jonas’s team was the one that was running point. His team’s PR strategy was simple; to disparage Turner and paint her as a bad mother to make himself look like the victim.
The Daily Mail and Page Six tabloids both swiftly published pieces implying that Turner was leaving their kids at home while she was partying. The message was obvious: Jonas was portrayed as the doting and dependable father while Turner was painted as a careless mother. There was nothing civilized about the way Jonas and his team painted Turner, and the worst of it all was that he never directly made these disparaging comments. Instead, when asked, he said Turner was a wonderful mother and he was not to blame for the way the media interpreted things, when he and his team were responsible for creating this false narrative. It was a despicable and dishonorable tactic to try and force a young and working mother to put aside her flourishing career to act like a 1950s housewife.
This whole campaign against Turner is rooted in misogyny. Jonas’s smear campaign tries to make him seem burdened by the concept of taking care of his own children as their mother works. The reality is that if the genders were reversed and it was Jonas who was doing the partying, this PR tactic wouldn’t have a leg to stand on. Both Jonas and Turner are parents, and most importantly, both Jonas and Turner are working parents. They both have responsibilities at home and at work, not just Turner. It is ridiculous to expect a world-renowned actress to stay home with the kids just because she is the mom. Why can’t the father do the same? And when he does, why does he need to make such a big show and expect the public to praise him? Jonas acts like he is being forced to babysit against his will, but these are his own children. It is not a sign of excessive partying to enjoy a drink with your coworkers after finishing up working on a new television show, especially not if you are required to attend these events as a condition of your employment. Jonas and his team made a horrible error in judgment in lobbying these claims, and the public’s response was a good indication that these sexist and controlling tactics would not work to smear Turner’s name.
However, this incident did reveal a profound change in how the public perceives celebrity PR tactics. 20 years ago there is no doubt that Turner would be seen as an unfit mother, and the consequences might include the loss of custody of her children. But now, smear-campaign strategies are becoming more widely regarded as antiquated and unconvincing. We are in a time of increased social awareness which has created a growing emphasis on gender equality, which makes it harder to force restrictive stereotypes on celebrities. Many of the things that used to be seen as unacceptable are suddenly becoming mainstream, which makes the public less susceptible to being duped by stereotype-reinforcing tabloid rumors. Now, thanks to social changes over the last decade, the public does not take the bait the way they used to and recognizes these deceptive tactics for what they are.
A more discriminating and socially-conscious audience will probably define the future of entertainment media as we move forward. There are bound to be exceptions, but if anything came out of this incident between Turner and Jonas, it’s that false narratives are likely to be a lot less convincing than they used to be. Fans now have direct access to their favorite celebrities because of the growth of social media platforms, which allows them to contest false narratives and demand accountability from the media.
Carolyn Branigan, FCRH ’24, is an English and film & television major from Tinton Falls, N.J.
