It was, of course, internet gossip hub TMZ that first broke the news. Pop star Joe Jonas, one of the three Jonas brothers, had asked for a divorce from “Game of Thrones” actress Sophie Turner. Interestingly, the gossip site was also able to present plenty of insight into the matter. At least as it looked from Jonas’s side. TMZ could tell that he had been responsible for the couple’s two daughters, aged three and one, in recent months. They were also able to quote a source who confided to readers that the problem was that Jonas and Turner had different lifestyles. “She likes to party, he’d rather be at home.” STAR COUPLE: Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner were on every red carpet together. Now they go their separate ways. Photo: AP Whoever ensures that TMZ gets this kind of information is someone who would very much like the public to have the greatest sympathy for Joe Jonas. The quote from the source seems almost like an attempt to correct an impression Sophie Turner gave in an interview with Conan O’Brien during the corona lockdown. There she said that it was Joe who was the social butterfly of the two. She herself would prefer to stay at home all day, if she could. Why was either Joe Jonas, or anyone concerned about his reputation, so careful to ensure that this kind of private information found its way into the public domain? Because today’s stars probably feel, with some right, that their position is at the mercy of the extent to which we, that is, ordinary people, like them or not. FAMOUS AROUND THE WORLD: Sophie Turner became famous in the role of Sansa Stark in the global success “Game of Thrones”. Here with Aidan Gillen as Littlefinger. This has been true to some degree for all famous people. Charisma, beauty, charm and sex appeal have been just as important for establishing a bond with the public as special talents. But, as sociologist Ellis Cashmore, who has researched celebrity culture, has pointed out: Two cultural upheavals have made celebrities more directly vulnerable to the public’s contempt than before. The first was the rise of reality television in the late nineties. This led to the already rather thin fence between the private and the public being broken down. Showing off private scenes in public became an increasingly common route to celebrity status. Kim Kardashian and her family are perhaps the most determined and confident of the celebrities who have chosen this route to global fame. The second upheaval was social media, which made the contact between the celebrities and the public more direct. The public expected more and more insight and participation in the lives of the celebrities. Before, stars could be created, in whole or in part, by the film studio, the record company or the major media. Now they are becoming more and more important by gathering a large following. FIRST FAMILY: Anna Faris and Chris Pratt’s son has health problems after he was born prematurely. Photo: AP As a result, they are also more vulnerable when the public turns against them. Chris Pratt, known from the “Parks & Recreation” and “Guardians of the Galaxy” movies, was known as the good-natured and dirty charm bomb of Hollywood’s four desirable Chrises (the other three are Chris Evans, Chris Hemsford and Chris Pine). He had what looked like a great marriage to Anna Faris, also a well-liked comedian and actress. They appeared as caring parents to their son, who struggled with various health challenges because he was born prematurely. But then something happened. Pratt became a slimmer and fitter front man for major Hollywood films. He divorced Faris and got together with Katherine Schwarzenegger. Not only was Schwarzenegger far younger than both Pratt and Faris, she was also the child of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. She belonged to both Hollywood’s upper class and the American political elite, because she was part of the Kennedy family through her mother. And when she and Pratt had their first child, a daughter, he praised his wife for giving him a “healthy” daughter, among other things. MARRIAGE NUMBER TWO: Chris Pratt stepped into Hollywood nobility when he married Katherine Schwarzenegger, the daughter of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver. Photo: AFP The backlash was immediate and bone-chilling. The audience thought it was reprehensible for Pratt to emphasize his daughter’s good health when he already had a sick son. Pratt later had to come out and say that the feedback had brought him to tears. That he was furious on behalf of his son, who would be able to read all the claims about his father’s feelings. Incidents like this may help explain why Joe Jonas or his defenders will obviously pre-empt any criticism that he is abandoning his family. He tries to do what stars have always done: make them appear in a way that makes you like them rather than dislike them. Famous people have always served as topics of conversation for others, something that groups of friends and colleagues can discuss when they are done talking about the news and the weather. Celebrity journalism, be it Se og Hør or TMZ, has generally been oriented towards concrete, often simple news. Some get married, some get sick, some get divorced. CARVED IN STONE: The Jonas Brothers got their star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame earlier this year. Photo: Reuters TMZ speculates more about the causes than the Norwegian weekly, but not that much. Part of the art is to present the case so that the details and complexity do not stand in the way of the readers being able to feel, think and judge. If the cases become too specific, the audience can be reminded that these are indeed individuals. That they live their lives based on completely unique premises, which others, in fact, know little about. The awareness of this stands in the way of the direct identification, sympathies and antipathies that have always been the engine of celebrity culture. Therefore it is not desired. During a concert over the weekend, Joe Jonas asked the audience not to believe anything they didn’t hear from himself, apparently in reference to the divorce. He became very emotional during the performance of the song “Hesitate”. SPEAKING OUT ON THE CONTROVERSIES: Joe Jonas told the audience not to believe anything but his own words when he apparently commented on the divorce during a Jonas Brothers concert. Photo: AFP But the speculation raged on, and much indicated that his original strategy had failed. Jonas was quickly criticized for trying to smear Sophie Turner. It was pointed out that she had been in England to record the TV series “Joan”, and that this was the reason why the children had been with her husband. British Vogue columnist Raven Smith accused him of trying to label Turner as a bad mother. Former Jezebel editor Laura Bassett wrote on X/Twitter that “From all these carefully placed headlines, I think I’m meant to think she’s a party girl and thus a bad mother, while he’s a heroic father who sacrifices himself, but no one seems to question why, at the age of 30, he decided to marry a 23-year-old and think that she would suddenly transform into a traditional wife”. Do any of those who have spoken out really have anything to do with why the marriage between Turner and Jonas is over? Hurry up. Do you have? Have I? Nor. But in a complicated world, a celebrity divorce is one of the easiest things to say something about. So we will probably continue.
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Joe Jonas is worried about what you think about his divorce. – Speech
