Jodie Turner Smith filed for divorce from Joshua Jackson in 2023. For more than a year, I thought both Joshua and Jodie were handling everything well – there were no leaks, no tell-all interviews, no recriminations or drama. But then something shifted – last December, Jodie claimed that Joshua was not paying her any spousal support or child support, and he was trying to harm her financially so that he would be in a better custodial position with their daughter. Jodie’s claims sped up the divorce process, and almost everything has been negotiated and settled in recent months. But it’s not all rosy – apparently, Jodie changed Juno’s school without Joshua’s knowledge or permission, and Joshua marched right into court.
Joshua Jackson has filed a motion and request for an emergency custody order modification. The Doctor Odyssey star, 46, filed the motion on Friday, June 30, alleging that his ex-wife Jodie Turner-Smith changed their 5-year-old daughter Juno’s school without his permission, according to court documents obtained by PEOPLE.
In his declaration, Jackson claims that Jodie asserts it’s “no big deal to force Juno to start over with a new school” and that he’s concerned that “Jodie is attempting to create a scenario where Juno travels with her rather than attending a traditional school.”
Jackson is requesting that the court orders Juno to keep attending the school she’s been going to for the next academic year and is asking for joint consent with Turner-Smith for any subsequent school changes.
Reps for both Jackson and Turner-Smith did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
My take is that it’s really wild to change Juno’s school without informing Joshua or getting his consent. Juno is only five years old, and I agree that it’s not a big deal for her to start over at a new school, but that’s exactly the kind of thing both parents need to agree on, or at least inform one another about. Joshua has every right to go to court over this. I also think he’s right about why Jodie did this.
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.
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- 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
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- 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
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- 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
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- 2024 Disney Upfront Featuring: Joshua Jackson Where: New York, New York, United States When: 14 May 2024 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
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- The Walt Disney Company’s Emmy Awards Celebration at The Music Center in Los Angeles, United States Featuring: Joshua Jackson Where: Los Angeles, California, United States When: 15 Sep 2024 Credit: Faye’s Vision/Cover Images
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- Celebrities attend FX’s “Grotesquerie” New York Premiere Featuring: Joshua Jackson Where: New York, New York, United States When: 23 Sep 2024 Credit: Janet Mayer/INSTARimages.com
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- Vanity Fair Oscar Party held at the Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith Where: Beverly Hlls, California, United States When: 02 Mar 2025 Credit: Jennifer Bloc/Future Image/Cover Images **NOT FOR PUBLICATION IN GERMANY**
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- Celebrities attend the European Premiere of ‘Thunderbolts’ at Cineworld Leicester Square in London, England Featuring: Jodie Turner-Smith Where: London, United Kingdom When: 23 Apr 2025 Credit: John Rainford/Cover Images
Iirc, in the last article about their custody case, there was mention of a disagreement about the schools. So that’s clearly still the case.
I was going to say that the article assumes that Joshua’s take is 100% forthcoming and there’s no other side to the story. After years of litigation, I can tell you there is always another side to the story. And I wondered before reading your comment if she had raised it to him and he was stonewalling the decision or refusing to agree and she went forward with the decision anyway.
That’s still not a decision she gets to make solo, though. He has the right to stonewall if he doesn’t believe it’s a good decision for his daughter. She may also believe her action is a good decision for their daughter, but joint custody is joint for a reason.
It’s not cool at all to make a change like that and not tell the other parent. If he had been the one to make that change I would think the same thing. Juno health, happiness and safety must be the priority.
I agree with you. She would be equally upset if he did this. Plus I don’t think it’s no big deal to change school. If the child likes it there, has friends, trusts the adults around her it could upset her. Some kids adapt well, others less so when it comes to changes in their environment, but new friends, new teachers, new place is not insignificant.
🤬 him…that’s ALL I got.
This is not both sidesism. In a matter of the courts, parents have to agree. One can not go off making decisions willy nilly.
Wow so you must have all the insider info and know that this is all his fault right? Cool. Unless she has full legal decision-making custody this is the kind of move that courts are REALLY hostile to. She messed up. And I hope she isn’t planning on dragging that kid all over the world to film sets. Kids need stability.
good for him 👏 he wants to give his child a stable environment, meanwhile she wants to take her out of school and on sets and learn with tutors. otherwise, they are both messy as hell. just think before you have children with someone.
Also interesting that Joshua was a child actor himself, and likely knows more about what it is like to travel/learn on set with tutors. Add on him losing his own childhood home/her childhood home earlier this year in the LA fires, I really applaud him for putting the focus on consistency for his daughter right now.
She’s 5, so starting kindergarten? Picking a non-traditional route is risky. I can see why dad is worried if he’s had no information or say. Not cool, mom.
What is proven to be true? This seems to be JJ alleging things. Even if it #might# be true, the black wife is given the doubt here. Why do people doubt Jodie over the nice white man? Strange (as a person of color, love the racism on CB l fun!)
It’s full force this morning.
Disappointing but not unexpected.
Just curious-what are we doubting? This is a court filing. It happened.
A court filing is not fact — it is one person’s version of the events. And unfortunately, lots of filings are made as negotiation or PR tactics. And then conveniently withdrawn.
Echoing Marigold, a court filing is not proof that something happened the way the court filing contends. Court filings are briefs – they are entirely one-sided and argumentative because they’re trying to establish that litigant’s position so that they win the argument.
My first thing thought when I read this was, I wonder if she’d been trying to get him to agree to this for some period of time and he stonewalled her so she finally just pulled the trigger on her own.
Interesting that every so many people want to believe Joshua Jackson because??? He couldn’t possibly do anything wrong? I know people have fondness for him because he played pacey, but he’s not pacey, and even if he was who knows what pacey would have been as an adult. This is the problem with worshiping people based on the characters that they play.
A court-filing is not a fact, but whether or not Juno was enrolled in a new school or not is a fact. They have a hearing set (like in a month?) to further negotiate Juno’s schooling; if Jodie enrolled her in a new school prior to the previously agreed upon hearing date and without agreement from JJ, she likely violated their temporary custody agreement. This is also why JJ would file for an emergency hearing, essentially moving up the date of the previously scheduled one.
Yes, but as a lawyer I can say that an officer of the Court can’t just bold-face lie in representations to the Court. It violates our ethical rules as attorneys.
The issue of whether or not the child was pulled from school is a fact. So unless the lawyer is straight up lying and risking contempt of court, then it gets taken at face value.
To be clear, I am also a lawyer and I wasn’t suggesting that the lawyer is lying about the child being pulled out of school without notice to Joshua that it was imminent. I was saying that there may be more to the story than his lawyer put in the filing.
Specifically , I was pointing out that she may have been trying to negotiate moving schools with him for some time and finally went ahead and did it without notifying him of the specific decision in advance for a myriad of reasons , including that he is blocking her attempts.
It happens to me all the time that I am horrified by the allegations in a complaint or court filing, only to find out that the person didn’t lie, but they left out a lot of context to the story that substantially changes the legal analysis.
Jj is full of problematic issues. Strikes me as someone who thought Jodie should be grateful he got with her. And given their power dynamic at the time he got with her to forget his other ex left him. They had a child. And the controlling from Joshua just does not stop. Jodie seems to deal privately and straightforward but it feels they broke up bc Jodie doesn’t fit with Joshua controlling her. But as a woc leaving a white man, I think Joshua is extremely , to put it mildly, affronted, at Jodie leaving him. His ego is burning. And it is problematic bc thank goodness Jodie is getting more work and deals, since she left Joshua but it was light on work for her when she left Joshua. He played into that and sought to control narratives and take advantage of her plight.
Jodie does not seem to want to deal with him by berating him publicly and Joshua is at heightened state of everything. While not processing he gets left .. and makes everything problematic that jodie wants for their child.
It’s another way to shape and control Jodie, frankly I think she is speaking up for herself privately and Joshua is doing that thing where if he ignores what jodies wants for their daughter and her own life. Then he brings down the house on her when she tries to live her normal while co parenting with his normal.
I agree this filiing is a tactic, bc jodie’dared ‘ to call out his financial abuse earlier bc he was stonwalling her during the negotiation stage.. The whole thing reeks esp given the child is 5 and the school time is half days or a few hours every day. A child’s consistency starts at home or homes, Joshua lost his home and that sucks but Jodie does not seem abusive to joshua. And Joshua is abusive to Jodie [ after her claim and showing evidence of financial abuse in court] but joshua using a child to fight over to persecute Jodie sucks way more.
See, I knew the custody arrangement was gonna get messy between these two. It doesn’t seem like they’re able to communicate civilly and be on the same page when it comes to their kid–it’s rapidly deteriorated into a series of power plays. It’s bad when you get to the stage that you’re communicating only through lawyers because it further alienates the two parties and makes it harder to co-parent in an amicable way. I hope they figure their shit out quickly before Juno becomes a pawn in this mess.
Great post.
It also doesn’t help that the media is alerted every time there is a disagreement. This is not good for the child.
Not sure why people are applauding him and not wondering if his narrative is accurate.
We only know what he’s saying, and his track record is less than stellar.
Added to, there’s many different ways to learn. Traditional school only teaches one way kids learn, by rote.
Too many kids fall into the cracks because they don’t learn this way. Traditional school is only stable in that it’s the same place every day, and so what? The mechanics of school can be terribly difficult for too many kids.
This isn’t a story yet. Jodie has never once demonstrated she’s anything but the best for herself & her kids.
I agree, we should hear Jodie’s version too.
“Traditional school only teaches one way kids learn, by rote.” – This is not true. Still, even if one parent doesn’t agree with the school’s values they still shouldn’t make decisions alone. IF that’s what even happened.
It is true.
Every test is a testi of memory & regurgitation. You learn to memorize by rote. Kindergarten still has an element of play but it’s mixed with learning tradition for school: sit in a desk, raise your hand, memorize for testing. That’s grade school and only a handful of kids learn this way.
Contrast with Montessori, which is learn by doing with real life experiences.
Yikes, please don’t make broad statements about traditional schools from your experience. My kids went to the local public schools and there were many methods used for learning, including lots that were very active – they were play-based, experiment-based, and individual-based.
I think falsely implying that her father was deliberately not paying support when he was the one with the child over 50% of the time and there was no support order as neither party had asked for it was not in the best interest of the child.
She spun a narrative that was just this side of defamatory to most likely pressure a higher settlement offer. Not cool.
It is pretty easy to prove if someone enrolled a child in a school so that is a weird take. There was also a hearing schedule later this month to decide this issue of schooling; so she basically decided to ignore court proceedings. It has already been ordered to mediation.
There are always nuances, e.g., she saved a spot for the child while negotiations were ongoing. Not saying that is what happened here, just saying that where there are two parents who both know how to use the media and their lawyers, it may not be cut and dried.
“There are always nuances, e.g., she saved a spot for the child while negotiations were ongoing”
I was thinking the same thing, these people can afford fancy schools, maybe spots are competitive and she enrolled her so that IF she got her way eventually, the option to send her would still be there. Maybe not, but “she enrolled her without dad’s permission” doesn’t have to be the bold move it sounds like on paper.
I actually get this. Picking a school is a BIG deal. Especially when your kid is young. They’ll be there for 8hrs and primarily with people who aren’t blood related and love them. At the age kids are like sponges so any parent would want to make sure the school is a safe stable supportive and educationally enriching environment. If both parents had finally decided on a school and the child was attending it then having one parent unilaterally switch schools without notifying the other is maddening. Imagine not knowing where your child or having no say in where your child is spending the bulk of their time and being so heavily influenced.
I’m glad JJ is going to court and requesting a joint consent for school switches. For all we know Jodie could have found a better school but because JJ wasn’t a part of the process he doesn’t trust it. Having the joint consent in place forces them to communicate and perhaps the child will switch schools in the future but now both parents will be on board which in my opinion would be for the best.
You know, in order to work and make money, she has to travel. She’s talked about that in interviews before. He managed to land a TV gig where he can be home. Should she be penalized regarding time with their daughter because she wasn’t fortunate enough to get a steady TV gig? And do we account for the fact that it’s a lot easier for him to get jobs, partly as a white guy vs a black woman and partly because he has a longer resume? I have a lot of sympathy for a mom who needs to travel to make money but wants to have her young child with her. I’m not saying switching schools without telling the dad is right – if true – but I suspect there’s a lot of mom-related context missing from these reports.
I respect what you’re saying about the challenges of her job, especially when her race is factored in, but the court will make the best interest of the child paramount. While it may be true she wants a non-traditional school so the child can travel with her (and I absolutely understand why a mother would want that), what does that mean for visitation with her other parent? What does that mean for her learning environment? Those are just a couple of things that will be considered. The process may be unfair to JTS, the scrutiny might be unfair and even racist, but the end result (potentially keeping the child in the same, stable school) may still be the best result for the child.
I’m with you on this, Moxiemox. Feels like this situation is very stacked against her. He’s had a longer career and he’s a white man—because of that, he’s got a level of control over his career that she may never have. It’s not like she can just stop working because she has to provide for her daughter.
@MoxieMox. I’m not sure, but it seems to me that you totally missed the fact that Jodie herself is in a television series that has been given the green light for another season. So she, like he has also landed a tv gig. She complained about not having any work when they were hashing out support, yet she’s worked continuously since, and she’s a brand ambassador for the leading Whisky company in the world, Johnnie Walker. Her commercials run constantly. She also has two big projects that are in post production. So, she has a stable job and she has plenty of funds coming in. So, you’re argument that she needs to travel aren’t based in fact, nor was your assertion that she wasn’t lucky enough to land a regular tv gig when in fact she has. The Agency: Central Intelligence where she gets third billing with Michael Fassbender and Jeffrey Wright. It’s probably best to review her IMDB page defore making assumptions on her work.
I can see how you were confused – I mean that he landed a tv gig that allows him to film from LA, while she has had to travel away from LA for both recent tv series (as well as 1 of the 2 films) on her recent IMBD. I think my argument that she needs to travel for work is based in fact.
Surely you aren’t suggesting that they are equally yoked financially? His career has been 10-15 years longer than hers. He was on a wildly popular show that he still gets residuals from. She is on a show that is not even carried on most streaming services. I watch the show, and I had to upgrade my paramount plus subscription just to watch it. And he pays $2,500/month in child support. That is not much considering where they live. Honestly that is not much living anywhere.
It’s not like he’s suing for full custody. What works best for a parent or image-wise is not necessary what works best for the child. JJ & JTS are legally entitled to go to court when believing that’s the case, or if the custody arrangement is threatened. Imo these two can not comunicate in civil terms and are projecting on their daughter whatever messiness went down in their relationship. If I was the judge, I’d mandate counseling.
I’m sure there is a lot of context missing, including the challenges she faces as a mother and as a woman of color in the industry. But those factors don’t override the issue of what is best for the child, which is always paramount in a case like this. It’s the priority under the law and for the parents too.
In a joint custody situation, one parent can’t just randomly change where the kid attends school without consent from the other side. That’s how it works.
And obviously it’s pretty easy to prove the child isn’t at the original school.
None of this is helping the child in the long run.
“The Doctor Odyssey star, 46, filed the motion on Friday, June 30, (this date has to be wrong) alleging that his ex-wife Jodie Turner-Smith changed their 5-year-old daughter Juno’s school without his permission…Jackson…is asking for joint consent with Turner-Smith for any subsequent school changes.”
These details appear to point to Jackson not being required to have input in their daughter’s school choices.
No one is being accused of a violation of a custody order that is in place.
And isn’t it possible that he learned of the change because JTS told him?
She may have followed the custody arrangement/agreement and he’s still mad.
They have a hearing set in a month (I would wager that’s the 6/30 date?) to negotiate the details of Juno’s schooling; they have a temporary custody agreement in place until that gets worked out.
According to the filings JTS was allowed to pick for this year only however it had to be within a certain distance from his home. Now that the home burnt down and he rented a place nearer to the current school-Jodie wants the new school but it is over an hour from the his home that was stipulated in the original agreement.
Basically they are using the fire as an excuse to choose a school that JTS wants that is closer to her and also lets her claim they can travel. JJ pushed back that not only did the new school violate the rules of stipulation because once there it would mean moving her again once the house was rebuilt to be in compliance-it was also not in the child’s best interest given all the upheaval in the past year to be moving her from a place she liked and had made friends etc.
So the court was to have a hearing later this month to decide the issue. JTS enrolling before it was determined if the stipulation stood or she had to comply with the address of the original home as stipulated is the issue. As always the best interest of the child would also play a factor.
Thank you! Because to me it appears quite simple.
I hope they can get their sh*t together with co-parenting before Juno is fully aware of what’s going on.
I hope they can sort it out and are not playing dirty with each other. Because his house burnt down.
At the end of the day Juno will absorb all the negative energy and feel it. Put the child first.
As much as I dislike my ex, I cant say this is the right move. And probably legally she’s not in a good position because her paperwork probably outlines school and domicile. And if she did it in order to travel with her kid, that will inevitably mess with his custody days, because shooting schedules are all over/long.