Jodie Turner Smith filed for divorce from Joshua Jackson on Monday. It was a big shock, but for people who follow gossip about Jodie and Joshua, the vibe had definitely felt “off” for a year or so. It does feel like most media outlets were caught off guard, so much so that it’s taking a while for People or Us Weekly to actually get someone to talk to them about what the hell happened here. That’s surprised me too – the lack of follow-up reporting this week, the fact that no one can nail down a “reason” for why Jodie is suddenly completely over her marriage. Well, People Mag’s sources came through, but you sort of have to read between the lines.
Jodie Turner-Smith knew it was time to call an end to her marriage to Joshua Jackson.
“She decided that she is done,” a source told PEOPLE of the 37-year-old actress, who filed for divorce from the Dawson’s Creek alum, 45, after more than three years of marriage.
“They are on very different paths in life,” the source continued. “Jodie loves being a mom. She also loves working.”
The insider also noted, “It turned into an unhealthy marriage that made her unhappy. They will co-parent their daughter. They want her to continue to thrive.”
“Jodie loves being a mom. She also loves working,” tells me that there was significant disagreement between Joshua and Jodie about her work and possibly her travel. Arguments about Juno needing more stability, perhaps? Arguments about Jodie wanting and needing to travel and work? It definitely feels like something is in the air – there are too many stories of men wanting “their” women to turn into tradwives. That’s my trendspotting: the rise in high-profile divorces is symptomatic of the larger societal shift of men openly trying to control women, women’s bodies and women’s careers. I’m bummed in this case because I genuinely thought Joshua was a good guy and a feminist ally.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
-
- CENTURY CITY, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – MARCH 13: Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith arrive at the 27th Annual Critics’ Choice Awards held at the Fairmont Century Plaza Hotel on March 13, 2022 in Century City, Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 669530627, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Joshua Jackson, Jodie Turner-Smith, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
-
- LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA, USA – NOVEMBER 05: Jodie Turner-Smith arrives at the 11th Annual LACMA Art + Film Gala 2022 presented by Gucci held at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art on November 5, 2022 in Los Angeles, California, United States.,Image: 735582080, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jodie Turner-Smith, Credit line: Xavier Collin / Image Press Agency / Avalon
-
- Jodie Turner-Smith photographed at the The BRITS Red Carpet Arrivals on Saturday, 11 February 2023 at the O2 .,Image: 755389065, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: Julie Edwards / Avalon
-
- Jodie Turner-Smith, Joshua Jackson attends the 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party Celebrating the 95th Annual Academy Awards Hosted By Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 12, 2023 in Beverly Hills, California,Image: 762393092, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Pictured: Jodie Turner-Smith, Joshua Jackson, Credit line: – / JPI Studios / Avalon
-
- 27th Annual Critics Choice Awards held at Fairmont Century Plaza Featuring: Joshua Jackson and Jodie Turner-Smith Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 13 Mar 2022 Credit: Media Punch/INSTARimages.com/Cover Images
-
- 2022 Met Gala celebrating ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ – Arrivals Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith, Joshua Jackson Where: New York, New York, United States When: 02 May 2022 Credit: John Nacion/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images
-
- 2022 Met Gala celebrating ‘In America: An Anthology of Fashion’ – Arrivals Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith, Joshua Jackson Where: New York, New York, United States When: 02 May 2022 Credit: John Nacion/startraksphoto.com/Cover Images
-
- 2023 Vanity Fair Oscar Party. Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith and Joshua Jackson Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 12 Mar 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Los Angeles Premiere Of Netflix’s ‘Murder Mystery 2’ held at the Regency Village Theatre Westwood, Los Angeles, California, United States. Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith Where: Westwood, California, United States When: 28 Mar 2023 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Vogue World: London show at Theatre Royal Drury Lane, London. Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith Where: LONDON, United Kingdom When: 14 Sep 2023 Credit: PA Images/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
-
- Jodie Turner Smith and her mother leave her hotel during the Milan Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2024. Featuring: Jodie Turner Smith Where: Milan, Italy When: 22 Sep 2023 Credit: Abaca Press/INSTARimages **NORTH AMERICA RIGHTS ONLY**
This is why you have to discuss these kind of things with your partner before marriage and even before moving in together. If you don’t agree with how to raise children then you really have to think about if this person is for you. I hope everything works out for the best for little Juno.
My husband and I discussed these things before marriage, but for him, and for probably a lot of men, “discussing” gender roles means these men say what they know is appealing to a partner, and then on the other side of the marriage contract and having children, these men ease comfortably into the entitlement of control and power over a woman.
This. and I don’t even think most men do it intentionally to trap a woman, they just like to think they believe in equality without examining their actual expectations and misogyny.
Yuppers. I saw and felt this happening in several relationships in my 30s. It was “really nice” that I was educated and wanted a career etc but when it came down to kids, the assumption was I would stay at home and work. Needless to say I did not end up having children because of these attitudes.
Yes indeed. My spouse and I have ongoing problems with the division of labor. I think he recently had an “aha” moment when he said something to me to the effect of “my mom used to do all this stuff, but my mom didn’t work so she had more time to do it.” I was like, yeah no sh-t! Anyway, he’s trying. As @Kate says above, I think a lot of it is unintentional.
The problem with discussing before is to make the man stick to the agreement.
If seen to many men suddenly getting the vig promotion while their wie is pregnant and deciding that they are not able to take half of the allowed parental leave (in germany we have 12 month parental leave + 2 month if both partners take it). And once the woman goes back to work he is to important to pick up the children.
I just had the discussion with one of my female team members who has neen slacking due to bringing her daughter to childcare and picking her up, also with cancelling worktrips on short notice.
Her husband promised equal shared childcare and now, after his promotion he just doesn’t have the time to puck up his daughter or has to travel on short notice.
She asked me what she should do? Not picking up her child? Leaving her alone? Leave him and become a single mom?
We are rearranging now that I take the clients where more travelling is involved, since she is one of my best teammembers and a good Fried. But at the end, it takes to women, one childfree to pick up the slack he is entitled to.
And I would love to give him a telling of, that Mr. Important should start pulling his weight and stop beeing so entstand.
Rant over.
It infuriates me that he undervalues his wife’s job to the extent that he’s putting a burden on HER coworkers rather than asking his own coworkers to pick up his slack. The entitlement!!
I think even if you discuss it, for men, the idea of their careers taking a hit so they can stay home and parent (while their partner goes off to work) is still pretty hypothetical. When it comes time to actually say “no” to a major career opportunity, they can’t do it. Whereas women are always expected to take a career hit when they have children…the more children, the more hits they take. So the possibility of doing so isn’t hypothetical at all, and that’s what they actually expect their partners to do, too.
I agree with your assessment, Kaiser. I wonder if this was something they discussed BEFORE they decided to have a kid together because it definitely sounds like they were on a different page in that sense.
That’s supposing that they planned the pregnancy. A surprise usually doesn’t come along with two people already having agreed on how they will balance the child care with work.
I dunno. The scuttlebutt is that Josh cheats a lot and she was just done with it. Wasn’t Josh papped with another woman right before they got married? Sounds to me like she ended up not being satisfied with their “arrangement.” Regardless, I’ve got her back!
Yes he has the reputation of a serial cheater and something about him just gives off d*ckhead energy.
People keep bringing cheating up, I very much get the vibe this IS irreconcilable differences. Also that kiss was 4 years ago; is there specific stuff coming up on Deux Moi? Otherwise we’re just repeating “he’s a cheater” without reference.
LOL exactly. Also, people love to cite that one incident but by all accounts, they were openly seeing other people at that time. Sometimes things start off casual and people keep their options open, ya know? I get the vibe that they were both playing the game at that time. Jodi is no fool and she’s not gonna just overlook infidelity and marry a dude who’s a serial cheater.
Deux moi has talked about stuff at the beginning, but I know they were casual then. They have said that in interviews and Jodie was seen with other people too. She has said she has heard nothing since they have been married.
I think you will find that they are divorcing because they see their lives going in different directions.
I’ve been in situations where conversations around hypothetical realities are simpatico UNTIL the hypothetical becomes REALLY REAL…then indoctrination surfaces along with controlling tactics…etc. People change & I’m just happy when folks realize…it ain’t working & continue their journey
I agree. It’s not as easy as ‘they should have discussed it”. We tried to cover a lot of ground in our discussions with my husband before marriage and kids. Then we had our kids and I realised I had had no idea what it would be like to be a mom. What I as a person would become as a mother, if that makes sense. You really don’t know until you are in it. Also, there are circumstances that you can’t foresee.
That’s what came to my mind. A former colleague was all set to come back to work after having her first child only to be gone by lunchtime when she (literally) ran out of the office shouting “I can’t leave him in that place”. Fortunately for her she was in a position to be a SAHM. I’ve also had friends end up working more than they had planned to as they felt they were losing their identity and missed the work.
But those were the choices of the mothers, not the fathers putting their expectations on the situation.
@Lala11_7 Exactly.
@ Lala11_7 nailed it
Well said Lala11_7!
@lala11_7 TRUTH!
Exactly this. My friend was in LAW SCHOOL when she and her now EX husband got engaged. They got married while she was still in school. He knew that she wanted to be a lawyer and was working actively to start her career. she graduated from law school while nine months pregnant! When they had their first child he expected her to drop her career and stay home. He literally flipped the script on her. And I think motherly guilt played a part in the manipulation because she quit working for YEARS. They went on to have a second child and stayed together for a few more years before she finally left. He was also ZERO help with the kids. This young, so called “feminist” ally man turned into a dude who wanted “traditional” gender roles in their house.
So he wanted her to be a full-time housewife?
It’s very telling that Diane Kruger left him, not a lot of women would walk away from a ten year relationship and start over. She also stated that their relationship was toxic.
And now JTS. He’s had two great women and he’s lost them both. Makes me think he’s the problem. Plus the constant rumours about him being a serial cheater does not help either.
Josh Jackson didn’t ‘lose’ Diane Kruger. She cheated on him with Norman Reedus while they were making Sky, and left Jackson thereafter. He’d wanted to marry her and said so publicly, and she said publicly that she didn’t believe in marriage after her first one failed. Until she met Norman, I guess.
Having a young child is hard on a relationship under the best of circumstances. I’m reserving judgement. We’ll never really know what happened between them.
Maybe Diane Kruger “didn’t believe in marriage” or want to have children when she was with Joshua Jackson because she had been with him long enough to know on some level what his expectations for a wife and mother would be. She seemed to change track quickly when she got with Reedus. I’m sensing the problem is JJ.
Josh and Jodie seemed to get together very fast. There may not have been time for those conversations or they were glossed over in the early rush of the relationship.
Jrco, Diane said in an interview months ago, that JJ and her tried very hard to have a baby when she was with him, but it didn’t happen.
No, I don’t think that is the case at all. She has worked non stop since they have been together. She also attends lots of events and is away a lot. She takes her daughter with her a lot of the time. I think he just wants her to stay home a bit more, so that her daughter has a bit of stability. Jodie wants to do everything, and wants the jet lifestyle as well. Nothing wrong with that. Their daughter will be starting school soon. I think that ‘s where the friction has come from.
A lot of men consider themselves feminist allies into the rubber meets the road. Also, if I had a time for every time I dated a guy who talked about how his parents marriage was very “equal” and modeled for him what an ideal marriage looks like… only to find out later that his mom was a SAHM, I would be rich.
Omg, this! “My dad worked outside of the home and Mom worked at home so it was equal” is something I’ve heard so. many. times. I always respond with “if it was truly equal your mom’s social security amount would have been equal to your dad’s. SAHPs are not being financially compensated and their social security account and their investment account (if they even have one) are not being fully funded.”
How do people not understand this? We live in a money based society yet SAHPs are not financially compensated for the work they do. And often, when the relationship breaks down, the person working outside of the home thinks they should receive the bulk of the shared money because “they did the work that brought money home” and think the remaining parent can just “get a job” after years of being out of the workforce.
Ugh. Rant over.
Ok I’m going to say something controversial. Absolutely women should be free to work after having kids. It’s important to be a well rounded adult in order to raise well rounded children. But isn’t it also kind of important to prioritize your children and their family life? I think there’s a balance there and alot of Hollywood types have a hard time finding it because their work is very consuming. I don’t think it’s fair that children are being raised by nannies and carted all over the place for the sake of their parents careers (I’m side eyeing you Joe Jonas) If your a very driven career orientated person maybe you should pass on having kids. They aren’t accessories.
I’m feeling this comment. My husband and I share the child rearing duties equally, so I could have traveled more when my kids were little, but I chose not to. I couldn’t handle being away. My mom had a knee replacement when my daughter was 2, and stayed at her place for 3 weeks to help her recuperate. I saw my daughter just a couple of days in that 3 week period, and it was really hard on her. And me.
Agreed. And there is a huge difference between wanting your wife to factor your daughter and stability for her into her burgeoning career with all its international travel and wanting her to be a tradwife. I don’t think it’s fair to lump Joshua Jackson in with Joe Jonas based on the information about both separations that has been released to date.
Sorry I never intended to link Joshua Jackson with Joe Jonas. I was pointing out specifically Joe Jonas for expecting their very young children to tag along his world tour with him. I don’t think Joshua Jackson is expecting her to be a trad wife like Joe was with Sophie.
I see your point and what sucks is that we’re still at a point in our society where “it’s important to prioritize your children and their family life” translates for most into the woman prioritizing the children over her career. Our society praises men for their money and we have generationally taught men not to be emotionally available so getting a man to work less/earn less so they can emotionally prioritize their kids and home life is a tall order.
Agree JJ! I have a four year old in one year old and I thought of being away from them for a few days, let a little weeks or months like apparently is normal for these Hollywood moms is insane to me! And my husband feels the exact same way. If I left my one year-old for several weeks, I feel like that would cause all kinds of anxiety and separation at that stage. I know the rich ain’t like us but when you decide to have kids, both parents need to commit to their well-being, especially in the early years, and I honestly don’t understand how leaving your kids that young for weeks or months at a time is healthy, even with all the resources you have. A night out here and there or a few days with a nanny or relative, sure but traveling the world with an infant or toddler at home isn’t healthy IMO for either parent at that age. I’m not saying that’s what Jodie and Josh are doing but people acting like it’s fine to leave a kid that young for weeks is not ok. Most working parents know how traumatic being gone for 8 to 10 hours a day can be, let alone weeks at time. If that’s what josh was upset about, that I think I’m gonna be on his side because that is not the best interest of the child, no matter what kind of mental gymnastics people try to do saying that she’s just working and so cool. Again, not saying that’s exactly what’s going on but I do kind of feel like that’s part of the situation.
@JJ Why is your comment about women and work vs. parenting? Is being the main parent still the woman’s responsibility- no exceptions? What about stay at home dads? Gay male couples? Are their children screwed if they don’t have a mother?
Can people share some details on the Joshua cheating rumors? I’m in the dark I only know of the woman he kissed at the airport garage right before they filed for a marriage license.
That is the only one. They have said they were casual at the beginning in interviews. They both were seeing other people. Getting pregnant changed that. Nothing about them since they got married.
I think this relationship would have worked without the speedy pregnancy.
Maybe it was planned, and maybe it was a surprise, but it’s a lot harder to have a quasi-open, jet-set, see-each-other-occasionally-for-passionate-love-making-on-the-balcony kind of relationship when there’s a toddler involved.
I always think of Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli he wanted a traditional stay at home Mom. So she gave up her career and raised their kids. And he still had an on set affair and divorced Jennie for another woman. Last I checked he is now engaged to another woman and had another baby.
Work or SAHM nothing is written in stone it will last. Jodie is so talented, she should have a work-life balance that makes her happy. And an acting career is different from the 9-5 corporate jobs. Actors have tons of downtime in between projects. And she is at the level she can choose what projects she wants to work on. She also has the means for an excellent support team to help with her child.
I wish the best for her and hope she finds whatever happiness she desires.
I’m thinking of the careers two actors have. They really have a lot less control over the trajectory of it than other professions in that when they have a good offer they have to take it. They can’t say “oh I just worked now it’s my spouses turn” like so many of them say they are going to do it (that they will take turns being with the kids). I was thinking (because so many are splitting up) I wouldn’t be surprised if Emily blunt and John K split because they both have spent the past few years working in separate countries while they both filmed in many different projects. Not that I’m trying to jinx them its just that their careers make it pretty hard on family life.
Things I do not believe in :
– Santa Claus
– feminist allies
I will never forget James Franco sporting the Me Too button at the Golden Globes. The audacity and hypocrisy of trying to present as a feminist ally was outrageous. I am glad he was clocked and called out for his behavior.
If it worked out for Ben & JLo can I hold out hope for a Jackson & Holmes reunion now?
I think I posted this yesterday and I posted in another thread. I follow both on social and it is clear that Jodie has been not home at all in last year and half and often has a group around when she does. It is not just working, she attends so many events that the old opening of an envelope comes to mind. Usually dragging the daughter with her to go often out of the country. Yes she has also booked acting work but the issue is really all the events usually followed by whole family have to go to resort vacation. JJ has done maybe one job a year and has stated doing voice work. He has also been the one going to her work location when he could and often some events. It is pretty easy to follow as Jodie constantly posts stories.
So when the daughter was a baby it made sense for Jodie and her mom to go to events-often with brother. There is also no evidence that the daughter has been to Canada to see his family etc.
Imagine the roles reversed. He is always away and leaving her at home. Meanwhile when he is home his mother is there-along with best friend and often brother. Also the child goes with him.
I can see how it is now and issue. I mean she can still work etc but does not to be at every event. And I would not want my mother in law or my mother living
With me all the time either. There needs to be boundaries
It sounds like he wanted her to cut back on the events and have the mother in law leave after 3 years and she basically unwilling to find the balance
It was clear from her social that he was the one giving stuff up and often missing not on time with child. Really do toddlers need to go to film festivals or fashion weeks. At some point something had to give.
This is interesting and actually makes a lot of sense with the, “she wants to be a mom and she wants to work,” comments from People.
I dont get the sense he was an entitled dick about her career or being a trad wife at home with kid or anything, it just seems to me it’s more he is more a cosy homebody type and she is into the fashion and shows and some jet setting alongside acting so they grew apart and want different things going forward. No one needs to be wrong for this to happen