Joe Jonas isn’t just letting the music do the talking in the wake of Sophie Turner’s custody lawsuit against him.
“Do we have any parents in the house?” Jonas, 34, asked the crowd at the Jonas Brothers’ show at the Wells Fargo Center in Philadelphia on Thursday, September 21, before performing fan-favorite ballad “Little Bird.”
“If you’re trying to have kids, best of luck,” the singer continued.
Jonas — who, earlier on tour, previously dedicated the emotional tune to a grieving mother who lost her daughter — is in the middle of a messy divorce from Turner, 27, with whom he shares two young daughters: 3-year-old Willa and a 14-month-old baby girl whose name they have not publicly revealed.
Earlier on Thursday, the Game of Thrones alum sued Jonas, claiming he was wrongfully detaining their kids in the U.S. after allegedly agreeing to permanently relocate the children to Turner’s home country of England. Turner also alleged that the musician was keeping their daughters’ passports from her.
Jonas, who filed for divorce from Turner earlier this month in Florida, hit back at his ex’s claims in a statement to Us Weekly, calling the lawsuit “misleading” and an “unfortunate legal disagreement.”
“Sophie advised that she wanted to take the children permanently to the U.K. Thereafter, she demanded via this filing that Joe hand over the children’s passports so that she could take them out of the country immediately. If he complies, Joe will be in violation of the Florida Court order,” a rep for Jonas told Us on Thursday. “Joe is seeking shared parenting with the kids so that they are raised by both their mother and father, and is of course also OK with the kids being raised both in the U.S. and the U.K. The children were born in the U.S. and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the U.S. They are American citizens.”
Breaking Down Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner’s Divorce, Custody Battle
VALERIE MACON/AFP via Getty Images Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner‘s divorce came as a shock to fans — and things quickly turned messy. Jonas and Turner were married for four years before news broke of their split in September 2023. The former couple previously welcomed daughter Willa in 2020 and another baby girl in 2022, […]
The rep elaborated: “When language like ‘abduction’ is used, it is misleading at best, and a serious abuse of the legal system at worst. The children were not abducted. After being in Joe’s care for the past three months at the agreement of both parties, the children are currently with their mother.”
Thursday was an emotional day for Jonas, who hugged his brothers on stage after performing “Hesitate,” which includes his and Turner’s wedding vows. (The exes tied the knot in two different ceremonies in 2019.)
“If you came here tonight with someone you love, put your arms around them right now and say, ‘I love you,’” Nick Jonas told the crowd.
Turner, for her part, has been spotted out in New York City with Taylor Swift twice this week. Joe and Swift, 33, previously dated for several months in 2008.