Joe Jonas has always courted the most controversy in his family. Don’t believe it? Read on.
1. He’s A Scandalous Lover
Of all the Jonas Brothers, no brother has been as scandalous as Joe Jonas. With his sweet face and smooth voice, Joe has never had any problem attracting girls—but then again, maybe that is the problem. Let’s just say, there’s some questionable breakup behavior…and then there are his other scandals most don’t know about.
2. He Was A Troublemaker As A Kid
Despite his angelic good looks and background, Joe’s life has been naughty from the beginning. The son of a pastor and the middle brother in the Jonas family, Joe has admitted in the past that he felt hemmed in by his religious upbringing, and that he would have rather gone to punk shows than sat in pews. But one day, this world he knew fell apart.
3. He Went Through A Big Scandal As A Kid
The Jonas family was the picture of good, church-going people, even homeschooling Joe and his brothers, Kevin, Nick, and Frankie from the seventh grade onward. But when Joe was just 14, their church—Assembly of God—went through an enormous money scandal, and the family left the institution.
Right around this confusing time, fame came to Joe in the most unlikely way.
4. His Band’s Origins Are Surprising
Many people assume that the Jonas Brothers were a pre-fabricated boy band. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, Joe’s younger brother Nick—who was constantly singing around the house and around town—got discovered in a hair salon by chance.
For a long while, it was just Nick working on an album, until Joe and Kevin decided to get in on the writing too, and their dad saw something special in all three of them. He pushed them to work together with Nick’s current team, creating the Jonas Brothers in the process. But even then, the story didn’t go how you might think.
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5. He Hated Their Name
The band of brothers originally took on the name “J3”—a name that Joe hated precisely because it sounded like a 90s boy band. Ever the rebel, at a show for their first concert supporting their first album It’s About Time, it was Joe who turned to his brothers and asked, “Do you want our name to be J3 for the rest of our lives?”
Taking the bull by the horns, he then went on stage and announced to the audience, “Hey, we’re the Jonas Brothers”. Joe might have thought it was the beginning of something magical. He was wrong.
6. Audiences Jeered Him
Touring is hard on all bands, especially at the beginning of their career. Only, it was more of a nightmare than they imagined. The Jonas Brothers opened for club bands like the Veronicas, and angry crowds would constantly boo them, make rude gestures, and throw water bottles in their faces. When Disney finally came along, it did get better—until it got worse, that is.
PaulaForPie, CC BY-SA 2.5, Wikimedia Commons
7. Disney Embarrassed Him
Most people know that the Jonas Brothers got their real start on the Disney Channel, first playing themselves in Hannah Montana as Hannah’s favorite band, and then in the Disney sitcom Jonas, where they played versions of themselves. It blew up their career…but at the cost of their dignity.
As Joe later revealed, he was deeply embarrassed by the writing on the show, which had “weird slapstick humor that only a 10-year-old would laugh at”. If only that were all.
Disney Channel, Hannah Montana (2006–2011)
8. He Kept A Strict Secret
Joe and his brothers had been grinding hard for years, and Joe was a very adult 20 years old when he starred on Jonas. Not that Disney was happy about that. They forced Joe to shave every day without fail, because they wanted him to act and look like a 16-year-old, a directive he hated. But soon, Joe learned exactly what would happen if he stepped out of line.
Disney Channel, Jonas (TV Series 2009–2010)
9. He Watched A Starlet Fall
While Joe was working on Jonas, fellow Disney star Vanessa Hudgens had her now infamous—and unfair—scandal when someone leaked intimate phots of her. Joe watched the horrific consequences first-hand. He recalled how executives all but confined the starlet in their boardrooms “to figure out how to keep her on lockdown”.
Meanwhile, these same executives would turn to the brothers and tell them how proud they were that they hadn’t messed up so badly, putting even more pressure on Joe. He was a little puppet on strings, and those strings were straining.
Mark O'Donald, Wikimedia Commons
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10. He Was In The Middle Of A Stampede
As if all these expectations weren’t enough, Disney fame itself was both fickle and terrifying. Joe had to deal with screaming hordes of people everywhere he went, including the time 100,000 out-of-control fans chased the Jonas Brothers through a shopping mall during a meet-and-greet in Spain. As Joe remembered, “It felt like a zombie apocalypse”.
And when the lights when down, the nights got weirder.
11. He Got A Nasty Surprise
Sometimes after one of the shows, Joe would walk into his hotel room and get the shock of his life. There would be some strange girl—a fan who had managed to finagle her way in—just standing there. And, because Joe was terrified of offending the Disney Gods, it was very much a problem to get rid of, not one to indulge in.
Besides, there was that very notorious “promise” Joe had made…
12. They Got Pressured Into Revealing An Intimate Detail
If there’s one thing casual fans know about the Jonas Brothers, it’s their infamous promise ring vows. When they were younger and in the church, Kevin and Joe participated in the “True Love Waits” program, with Nick signing up later. But contrary to popular belief, they weren’t really into advertising this fact.
Years after, when fame came, they were still wearing their rings, and a journalist pressured them into revealing what they were about. From there, it exploded into yet another scandal.
Frazer Harrison/AMA, Getty Images
13. He Never Liked The Promise Rings
One thing that might surprise you? Joe always hated the promise ring idea, or at least the idea that everyone had to follow what they were doing. He squirmed when people came up to him on the street and said they were “waiting” too because of him. Even worse, it put another puritanical Disney layer onto the Jonas Brothers as a band. Still, he hadn’t seen anything yet.
Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0, Wikimedia Commons
14. He Dated Other Famous People
With Disney, the Jonas Brothers were supposed to be Ken dolls. But Joe’s private life was heating right up. Eventually, Joe decided to take his promise ring off, and by the age of 20 he was fully off the races…with some very famous love interests. For one, Joe has openly admitted he likes dating other famous women, partly because they understand his schedule and partly because he finds it exciting.
But his first experiences at dating weren’t pretty.
15. He Was In A Power Couple
One of Joe’s first girlfriends was Demi Lovato, who he had known since he was basically a kid after they played a couple on Disney’s Camp Rock. On the outside, they looked like a tween dream power couple, and the fans went wild for their romance. But on the inside, Joe was going through one of the darkest periods of his life.
Gustavo Caballero, Getty Images
16. His Girlfriend Was Spiraling
Joe’s relationship with Demi was beyond a disaster. In many ways, she introduced him to the dark side of Disney stardom. She was already dealing with addiction and mental health issues at a young age, and Joe watched as his girlfriend did all manner of substances with all manner of people.
Lovato, by her own account, would often get hopped up and trash hotel rooms to the point that they asked her to leave. Joe’s reaction was heartbreaking.
17. He Stayed For The Wrong Reasons
At the time, Joe admitted he was simply too young to help Lovato or to know what to do with the situations she was getting herself into. Yet leaving her didn’t seem like an option either. As he put it, “I wasn’t happy but felt like I had to stay in it for her, because she needed help”. In the end, he broke it off after a month—and then chaos broke loose.
18. There Was An Infamous Brawl
Just as Jonas and Lovato’s short-lived relationship was coming to an end, it hit a shocking climax. One day after another night of partying on tour in South America, one of Demi Lovato’s backup dancer’s told Joe’s dad, who was helping manage the tour, that she was on substances.
The next day, an enraged Lovato clambered onto the tour plane and infamously punched the dancer in the face, right in front of Joe. Everyone gasped…but it was far from over.
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19. Fans Got Mad At Him
With this display of dysfunction, Joe’s dad and the other adults on the trip sat Lovato down and pushed her into rehab, effectively ending whatever was left of Joe and Demi’s relationship. It did more damage than that, though. After Lovato abruptly left the tour, fans blamed the Jonas Brothers for kicking her off, and “hated on” them for it.
Still, no one quite realized that Joe was getting into his own troubles.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
20. Miley Cyrus Taught Him Naughty Things
Thinking back on his time with Disney, Joe made some scandalous confessions. Besides dating around, he dove right into partying in other ways, and he did it with some Disney shockers. At the age of 17, he took a puff alongside Miley Cyrus, making him privy to her bad girl antics long before the rest of the world. The only thing was, he was playing a dangerous game.
21. He Fell Down A Flight Of Stairs
Throughout the years, the Jonas Brothers somehow managed to hold onto their good guy personas, but few know just how many close calls there were. On his 21st birthday, Joe got so out of his mind, he fell down a flight of stairs and knocked himself unconscious. For breathless moments, his team thought someone would snap a picture and his perfect reputation would be in shambles.
This team, however, perhaps never found out about his other behaviors.
22. He Dates His Fans
Here’s something most publications omit about Joe Jonas: He has dated his own fans. A lot, actually. As he said, “There were times when I definitely took advantage of the opportunities I had”. At one point, he was so comfortable with the practice that he simply invited a fan to go to a movie with him, then spent the entire time making out with her—quite probably never seeing her again.
Still, his most infamous relationship, before Sophie Turner at least? I think you know who I’m going to mention next.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
23. He Was A Bad Boyfriend To Taylor Swift
Joe’s most high-profile relationship—and most bitter teenage breakup—was notoriously with Taylor Swift, whom he dated in 2008 for only a few short months. Like so many of Joe’s relationships at this time, he was out of it before he was even really in it…and soon after the breakup, Taylor Swift was kissing and telling on his very bad behavior.
24. Taylor Swift Shamed Him
After Joe and Taylor broke up, Swift—as usual—got her revenge on the boy who scorned her. She went on Ellen DeGeneres and told all. According to Taylor, Joe decided to split with her via a 25-second phone call, a dumping that has since become infamous in Swiftie lore. But not as many people remember that Joe had a totally different explanation of events.
25. He Pointed The Finger Back At Swift
After Swift’s Ellen interview, fans and journalists alike mobbed Joe about his cold-hearted call. While he didn’t deny it, he did tell a different side of the story. As he put it on MySpace, “I called to discuss feelings with the other person. Those feelings were obviously not well received. I did not end the conversation. Someone else did”.
As for what those “feelings” were? Well, this is where it gets even juicier.
26. He Moved On…Quickly
Soon after breaking up with Taylor Swift, Joe moved on very quickly with the actress Camilla Belle, who starred in the Jonas Brothers’ video for “Lovebug”. It’s quite possible, then, that the “feelings” Joe referenced in this breakup call were ones for Belle. Either way, he certainly got his own kind of revenge on Swift.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
27. He Messed With The Wrong Girl
For most of his career, Joe has almost never talked about the girls he dated to the public. But he sure did it in song. In “Much Better,” he wrote these notorious lyrics directly referencing Swift: “Now I’m done with superstars / And all the teardrops on her guitar,” then later singing in reference to Camilla Belle, “The girl in front of me / She’s much better”.
But if he thought Taylor Swift of all people would take that lying down, he was very wrong.
28. He Got The Taylor Swift Special
In the world of pop stardom, it’s all about who can write the better breakup song. Well, Joe Jonas lost that battle when Swift came out with “Better than Revenge”. The song, which took ruthless aim at Joe, contained lyrics like “C’mon show me how much better you are”. It was the final volley in their breakup feud…at least until recently.
But in the end, it wasn’t the girls Joe had to worry about right then. It was his own family.
Featureflash Photo Agency, Shutterstock
29. His Brothers Frustrated Him
As the years wore on, Joe’s brothers became closer to enemies. As the middle child, Joe often tried to be the mediator, but the band nonetheless grew dissatisfied with their lot. While all three of them hated how infantilizing their Disney career was and wanted people to take them more seriously, none of them could agree on how to do that.
Joe, for his part, wanted to take the music to a smoother, more seductive place. His brother’s reply was not what he wanted to hear.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
30. He Wasn’t Strait-Laced
By now, Kevin, the oldest of the three brothers in the band, was married. This life change was already taking him away from a lot of the day-to-day bonding he and Joe used to get together. Then, when Joe brought up his ideas for doing a more seductive video for their next song, Kevin outright refused, citing the sanctity of his marriage. And then there was Nick…
31. His Younger Brother Controlled Everything
Since Nick was the youngest brother, you might think Joe and Kevin quashed his ideas as they were growing up. Nope, it was actually the opposite. Day in and day out, Nick had a “louder voice” when they discussed the direction their music was going to take, and both Joe and Kevin had their teeth set on edge about it.
The stage was set for a blow-out fight—and boy, did they get one.
32. They Got In A Screaming Match
With all this going on, the Jonas Brothers met one day to sit down and really hammer out where all three of them wanted to go with their new music and tour. That’s when it turned into a nightmare. In the blink of an eye, the brothers were screaming at each other, letting out all the tension that had been building up.
Then Nick made a suggestion that would change their lives forever.
33. Nick Made A Shocking Comment
In the heat of the argument, with Joe screaming, Nick threw out that maybe the best thing to do was to break up their band entirely. They weren’t getting along, they all wanted different things, and they were all tinkering with some solo stuff anyway. Nick might have meant well…but Joe reacted in the worst way possible.
34. He Nearly Got Violent
In the wake of his younger brother’s suggestion, Joe absolutely freaked out. “I didn’t know whether to pick up and leave or just punch something, because I was furious,” he said. He couldn’t conceive of walking away from what they’d built, and “it felt like we were just giving up”.
But as time went on, he began to realize just how right his brother was. But it was more than just a breakup.
Everett Collection, Shutterstock
35. They Stunned Their Fans
In October of 2013, the Jonas Brothers knew they were disbanding. Then they made an extremely controversial decision. Just days before their tour was scheduled to begin, they canceled all of their dates because of a “deep rift within the band,” as none of them could bear a farewell tour. They followed it up with a breakup interview on Good Morning America.
The Jonas Brothers were no more, at least for now. And yet this is where Joe’s problems took on a whole new speed.
36. He Slid Into A Girl’s DMs
Picture this: It’s 2016, Joe Jonas has left the Jonas Brothers but embarked on a new band, DNCE, and Game of Thrones fever is sweeping the world. Joe, like the rest of us, had his eye on the HBO’s show’s cast—but really, just one member of it.
After following her on Instagram, Joe slid into Sophie Turner’s DMs and asked the one and only Sansa Stark if she’d like to meet up in Britain while he was there on tour. But this recently doomed relationship didn’t even start out smoothly.
37. He Was More Charming Than He Looked
According to Turner herself, she never expected to like Joe. When they did meet, she was first impressed by how hard he could party—evidently assuming he was a good Christian boy like his image. Nonetheless, as the night went on, the pair talked for hours. “It wasn’t contrived, it wasn’t small talk—it was just so easy,” Turned admitted. “Soon, we were inseparable”.
It ratcheted up immensely from there.
38. He Went Where He’d Never Gone Before
Just a year into dating, Joe took a huge step. Although he had previously been something of a playboy with women, he popped the question to Turner in 2017, trying to lock her down with a hefty teardrop diamond ring. From there, they took it a bit slow, only marrying in 2019 two years later…but the wedding was just as chaotic as their upcoming divorce.
39. He Had A Wild Wedding
On May 1, 2019, Joe Jonas and Sophie Turner tied the knot—right after the Billboard Music Awards no less. In the slapdash event, they had Diplo live-stream the proceedings while an Elvis impersonator acted as their officiant. If that weren’t enough, they also gave each other Ring Pop wedding bands. But there was one thing missing.
40. His Own Parents Didn’t Come To His Wedding
If a wedding is an omen for things to come, this one wasn’t a good one. While Joe’s brothers were there, he reportedly forgot to even invite his parents to the bash. All this when there were near strangers at the party; as he told GQ, “we actually had some people that I didn’t really even know that well there”. I’m sure mom and dad were thrilled.
To be fair, the pair did have a fancier, formal ceremony in France a couple months later. But it didn’t take long for things to get wild again—just in a different way.
41. He Has A Lost Album
In 2013, in the wake of the Jonas Brothers’ breakup, Joe revealed one of his biggest disappointments—one that fans never knew about. Apparently, he’d tried to put out a solo album while still touring with his brothers, even soliciting the help of Robert Schwartzman, the lead singer of the band Rooney and brother to actor Jason Schwartzman.
But the fate of that album was heartbreaking.
42. Executives Hated His Work
Joe described his first foray into solo work as a mix between Hall and Oates and Freddie Mercury. But then the studio dealt him a huge blow. When they heard the album, they instantly said, “This doesn’t work”. They claimed the songs were too “weird” and that the Disney audience wouldn’t get it. But then they went further.
43. They Wanted Him Watered Down
In the end, the studio took Joe’s passion project and told him if he wanted it to see the light of day, he needed to use a team of Disney songwriters—people who’d turned Selena Gomez and Miley Cyrus into bona fide hitmakers—to pretty up the songs. Which is when Joe had to make a gut-wrenching decision.
44. He Made A Tough Choice
In the end, Joe Jonas knew this path would never feel true to him, even if he got a hit album out of it. As he put it, “it felt so fake to me,” and he told his manager, “I really want to slam my head into a wall right now”. So, he turned the studio down and tried again with the solo album that would eventually become Fastlife—but that first one still haunts him.
45. Demi Lovato Outed Him
Forget Taylor Swift’s breakup song about Joe—there’s another crushing ditty no one seems to know about. In Demi Lovato’s “Gonna Get Caught,” which she has since confirmed is about Joe, we get a different side to their breakup.
While Joe claimed it ended because of Lovato’s addiction issues, the song tells of his wandering eye, his inability to make her “number one,” and claims he treated her like his “seventh choice”. Even so, his relationship to Sophie Turner seemed so much more mature. But was it?
46. He Started To Settle Down
The 2010s and 2020s were huge for Joe, who not only reunited with his brothers for a Jonas Brothers reunion, but also welcomed two children, both girls, with Sophie Turner. It was a happy, stable time—the pair were so private in this period that they didn’t ever intentionally reveal their youngest daughter’s name.
Unfortunately, scandal was about to blast that happiness and privacy to smithereens.
47. He Had A Scandalous Split
In early September of 2023, Joe Jonas dropped an absolute bombshell. TMZ got wind that he was filing for divorce from Sophie Turner, and days later he made the official submission. Because of their intense privacy, few had any idea they were in troubled waters…but the accusations Joe made out of the gate were jaw-dropping.
48. He Made Cruel Claims
According to sources that appear to be close to Joe, the marriage broke down while Sophie was away from home filming. As a result, Joe was caring for the girls “pretty much all of the time” even while he toured with his band. There were also whispers that while Joe “liked to stay home,” Sophie was more of a party girl.
But—like so many of Joe’s exes—Sophie had a bitter response to that.
49. He Blindsided His Ex
According to Sophie, the end of the relationship came “very suddenly” after an intense, mysterious fight between the couple. In fact, the way she found out was horrifying. In an ensuing legal skirmish about the custody of their daughters, Turner claimed she had to learn about Joe’s intentions to end their marriage from the media, like everyone else. Only, there are more salacious whispers.
50. He May Have Caught His Wife Red-Handed
According again to TMZ, who first broke the story, this “sudden” end to the marriage came courtesy of Ring camera footage of Sophie Turner. Although no one has any idea what the footage depicts (or if it even exists), it reportedly caught “Sophie saying and/or doing something that made him [Joe] realize the marriage was over”.
But it’s not like Turner is going easy on her ex, either.
51. His Exes Came Out Of The Woodwork
In the days following this very public and acrimonious split, Sophie Turner came up with a brilliant revenge. She got together with Joe’s ex Taylor Swift for dinner and made sure every paparazzo in New York saw them together—making it very clear whose side Swift is on in the divorce.
Turner is also currently staying at one of Swift’s properties in the Big Apple while the divorce dust settles. Ouch, Joe.
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