Earlier this month, the world of showbiz was rocked when it was revealed that Sophie Turner and Joe Jonas had split after four years of marriage.
The couple — who first started dating in 2016 — confirmed the news in a joint Instagram post, where they also requested "privacy."
But in spite of this plea, a steady stream of negative stories about Sophie were being published to various media outlets and attributed to Joe's camp.
In fact, Joe faced fierce backlash for the reports, which were regularly called out for seemingly being pretty baseless.
For example, the source stories began with a TMZ article that said Joe had been caring for his and Sophie's two daughters, aged three and one, for the last three months.
Most people were confused as to why Joe parenting his own children was even considered newsworthy, and it was later pointed out that Sophie had literally been in England for work during this time period.
Next, it was reported that Joe and Sophie's separation was a result of their different lifestyles. Sources claimed that Joe prefers to stay at home while Sophie wants to party more frequently.
This is a stark contrast to what both stars have publicly said over the years, and Sophie's 2020 interview about being a "homebody" who struggles to keep "social butterfly" Joe at home soon resurfaced online.
Then, the blame for the split was vaguely pinned on Sophie when a TMZ report said that Joe filed for a divorce after apparently catching Sophie "saying and/ or doing something that made him realize the marriage was over" via their Ring camera.
But despite the lighthearted reaction to this specific claim, many argued that the entire situation had a much more sinister undertone and Joe's camp were accused of carrying out a calculated "smear campaign" against his ex wife.
In fact, one viral tweet claimed that Joe was following similar tactics to Justin Timberlake amid his 2004 split from Britney Spears, which led to Britney being demonized in the press and vilified for the breakup.
This speculation reached fever pitch when paparazzi photos of Joe spending time with his two children, both of whom he and Sophie have kept firmly out of the spotlight since their birth, were posted online.
Amid the mounting backlash, the source stories from Joe's camp eventually dried up and during a Jonas Brothers concert Joe seemingly tried to distance himself from the reports as he told the crowd: "If you don't hear it from these lips, don't believe it, OK?"
But not everybody was convinced, and it was suggested on Twitter that Joe's comment was just a form of "damage control" after the multiple negative stories about Sophie hadn't landed as anticipated.
If anything, Sophie's popularity has soared in recent weeks — even though she hasn't publicly said anything about the split aside from the joint Instagram statement, nor have any source stories from her camp been leaked to the press.
According to analytics site Social Blade, Sophie has gained over 150,000 Instagram followers in the past month, and many people have said on social media that the negative reports surrounding the former Game of Thrones star had swayed them from being indifferent towards her to fully supportive.
"I have had very little to zero opinion on Joe Jonas up until a few days ago and now I would follow Sophie Turner into battle," one person tweeted. Another wrote: "Can we take a moment to appreciate the public's response to Joe Jonas' smear campaign against Sophie Turner. I love that as a collective we’re all here for Sophie."
And while Team Sophie has been thriving for some time now, people have been unable to hide their obsession with its latest member; Joe's ex girlfriend Taylor Swift, whose brutal song about him resurfaced amid his and Sophie’s split.
Sophie and Taylor were pictured stepping out for dinner in New York City on Tuesday night, and they put on an incredibly united front as they proudly walked through a crowd of fans and paparazzi.
Since her and Joe’s divorce was announced, Sophie has only been photographed on set filming her upcoming TV show, Joan, making this the first time that she has been seen outside of her character.
The star looked chic in sneakers, cargo pants, and a glittery halterneck crop top, and was smiling as she linked her arm through Taylor's.
Needless to say, the photos have caused a stir online and pop culture lovers have flocked to social media to share their reaction to this iconic public display of friendship.
"they knew they had the opportunity to do the funniest thing ever and they went ahead and did it," one person wrote on a Reddit forum. Another added: "Omg to be a fly on the wall during their conversation."
One more quoted Taylor's 2022 song "Vigilante Shit" as they commented: "🎶 Picture me thick as thieves with your ex-wife 🎶" Someone else said: "They played this perfectly. Slay. No notes."
Others couldn't help but compare Sophie's first public move since news of her split broke with the way that Joe's team seemingly handled the situation.
"it may be staged but so were all of Joe Jonas’ recent moves, good for her," one person claimed. Another said: "Oh this is hilarious, good on Sophie and her impeccable PR."
"while this is clearly staged, it doesn’t target / insult / undermine Joe in the way all of his PR has tried to tear down Sophie. this is just sophie slaying in the media, uplifting herself, while Joe has only tried to shame sophie. I support," someone else wrote.
One more referenced the fact that Taylor's yearslong friendship with her bestie Selena Gomez actually started when they went on a double date with Joe and his brother Nick Jonas in 2008.
"We actually dated the Jonas Brothers together! It was hysterical," Selena told British radio station Kiss FM in 2017. "It was the best thing we got out of those relationships."
"This is the absolute funniest thing she could have possibly done and I say that as someone who’s been a Jonas Brothers fan for basically half my life. I’m so fucking here for TSwift collecting the other Jonas exes like they’re the goddamn Infinity Stones," the Reddit user wrote.
Taylor and Joe briefly dated in 2008, with Joe rather famously ending the relationship in a 25-second phone call after three months.
And while Taylor very rarely confirms who the subjects of her songs are, it is widely believed that her hit "Forever & Always," as well as "Last Kiss," and "Mr. Perfectly Fine" are about Joe — with Sophie regularly making references to the latter.
"Mr. Perfectly Fine" was released in April 2021 as a vault track on Fearless (Taylor's Version), meaning that it was originally written for her 2008 album but it didn't make the final cut.
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As Joe was Taylor's most high profile relationship ahead of Fearless's original release, there was little question that Joe was the inspiration behind the song.
And Sophie fueled this when she shared a screenshot of "Mr. Perfectly Fine" to her Instagram story and joked: "It's not NOT a bop," which Taylor reposted to her own social media page.
In fact, just last month Sophie proudly shared a photo of herself wearing multiple friendship bracelets that read "Mr. Perfectly Fine" in an apparent reference to Joe as she supported him and his brothers at a concert.
And Taylor certainly doesn’t hold back in the song, with fans recently drawing parallels between the lyrics and what has publicly unfolded between Sophie and Joe amid their split.
In the track, Taylor implies that the thing she struggled the most with in her and Joe's breakup was the "casually cruel" way that Joe acted as though he hadn't done anything wrong.
She also accuses him of issuing an "insincere apology" and scrambling to make sure that "he doesn't look like the bad guy."
Later, Taylor suggests that Joe was strategic during their relationship and split, and had a sense of superiority over her.
Meanwhile, Taylor has always been a big fan of Sophie's and previously revealed that the actor's Game of Thrones character, Sansa Stark, partially inspired her 2017 album Reputation.
Despite their mutual appreciation of one another’s craft, last night marks the first time that Taylor and Sophie have been pictured together — although it is thought that the two have been friendly for several years.
It is even believed that Sophie was instrumental in clearing the air between Taylor and Joe, who have publicly been on good terms in recent history in spite of their rocky breakup.
In 2019, Taylor admitted that she regretted putting Joe "on blast" back in 2008, when she exposed how he had ended things on the Ellen DeGeneres Show, and her lyric about sending an ex's baby a present in her 2021 song "Invisible String" is also thought to be about Joe.
