Joe Jonas responds to Sophie Turner’s lawsuit, denies he “abducted” their children

Sophie Turner has filed a lawsuit against estranged husband Joe Jonas, requesting the “immediate return” of their two children to the UK after they were “wrongfully removed”.

The Game Of Thrones actor filed the petition in Manhattan on Thursday (September 21), claiming the couple’s two daughters have been “wrongfully retained” in “New York City from their habitual residence of England”, according to the documents (via CNN).

According to the petition, Turner had agreed that Jonas would look after their two daughters while on tour with his band The Jonas Brothers in the US, due to her filming commitments on a new series.

Turner, who planned to return to England this month with the children, claimed that Jonas however refused to hand over the children’s passports when she attempted to collect them.

Jonas’ representative has since disputed various allegations in the filing, including claims that Turner found out about their divorce “through the media” earlier this month.

In response, Jonas’s representative states that Turner was “aware” he was going to file for divorce, where the Florida Court issued an order that “restricts both parents from relocating their children”. They claim Turner was aware of this order on September 6.

His representative said the couple had a “cordial” meeting on Sunday (September 17) in New York after she flew there to be with the children, where Jonas believed “they had reached an understanding that they would work together towards an amicable co-parenting setup”.

It’s claimed Turner informed him that she wanted to take their daughters back to the UK less than 24 hours later, which would be “in violation of the Florida Court order” if he complied.

“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,” Jonas’ rep said (via Los Angeles Times). “The children were born in the US and have spent the vast majority of their lives in the US. They are American citizens.

“This is an unfortunate legal disagreement about a marriage that is sadly ending. 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.”

In Turner’s petition, it claims their children, who have dual citizenship, are “fully involved and integrated” in daily life in England. It claims, prior to the end of their marriage, they had mutually decided to settle in the UK and were looking to move to a permanent home there in December.

Jonas and Turner officially announced their separation on September 6 on Instagram, where they described it as a “united decision”.

“After four wonderful years of marriage we have mutually decided to amicably end our marriage,” the statement read.

“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.”

Recently, Turner was pictured following the split on a night out with Taylor Swift, who had previously dated Jonas back in 2008.

The post Joe Jonas responds to Sophie Turner’s lawsuit, denies he “abducted” their children appeared first on NME.