Ariana Grande Faces Backlash Over Rumored Romance With Wicked Co-Star Ethan Slater

Here we go again: Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are still catching heat, and the timeline is messy enough that people have turned it into a full-time hobby. If you lost the plot somewhere between Wicked press stops and Instagram Stories, here is the clean version of what happened, what people are mad about, and where things stand now.

The quick version of the timeline

• Ethan Slater married his high school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, in 2018. Their son was born in August 2022.
• Wicked started filming in late 2022. At that point, Slater and Jay were still together, and Ariana was still married to Dalton Gomez.
• By July 2023, reports said Ariana and Gomez were separating for good after rumors they had already split in January. Around the same time, stories surfaced that Ariana and Ethan had started dating. One source insisted: 'Ariana and Dalton separated in January. She and Ethan recently began dating, and he is separated from his wife.'

Why the internet got furious

The 'homewrecker' label stuck to Ariana fast, with critics accusing her of blowing up a family. Then online sleuths dug up old posts from Slater that he wrote about his wife back in the day, and noted Ariana had liked some of them. That added fuel to the narrative that she had been paying close attention long before anyone knew they were dating. A tweet recirculating those receipts on November 26, 2025 brought the whole thing back to the surface again. The broader sentiment online has been harsh: people say the relationship felt coordinated and cold, and that a happy family with a new baby got caught in the crossfire. It has not exactly calmed down since.

Are Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater still together?

Ariana has addressed the backlash head-on. In September 2024, she told Vanity Fair that the worst part was how much power the ugliest version of the story seemed to have.

It definitely doesn't get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids... The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it. That was definitely a tough ride.

More recently, she all but soft-launched a status update: right after the release of Wicked: For Good, she posted an Instagram Story of Slater by the trailers and slapped on a Tin Man GIF with a red heart. Subtle as a neon sign, and very on-brand. So, despite rolling breakup rumors, that looked like a 'we're fine' message.

On the other hand, the pace of her world may be a lot for him. A Daily Mail item, echoed by HOLA, ran a source quote that sounded like Ethan is still catching his breath:

Ethan sometimes wonders if he should've stayed in his quieter world. He loves her, but the pace of her life is overwhelming. Even at home, his mind is halfway through rehearsals or tour stops. It's exhausting just watching him try to keep up.

So yes, still together as of that Instagram hint, but also very much navigating wildly different lifestyles. Translation: status is alive, but not exactly low-drama.

The praise tour (and the very specific behind-the-scenes stuff)

Publicly, they have nothing but love for each other. At the New York premiere of Wicked: For Good on November 17, Ethan shouted out his co-stars and singled out Ariana. He called her work 'out of this world' and raved about Cynthia Erivo too. In a separate E! News interview, he went further: she isn't a singer trying to act or an actor trying to sing — 'she's just the best at both.' A clip from that chat even made the rounds this month because of the way he clocked the interviewer mid-compliment. Internet gonna internet.

For her part, Ariana spent part of that Vanity Fair profile defending Ethan's character in a way that suggests she is all in. She pushed back on tabloid portrayals and said there is 'no one on this earth with a better heart.' Strong words, and very pointed.

Where this probably lands

The origin story is complicated, the optics were bad, and the backlash has been relentless. But the current signs — that Instagram Story, the premiere circuit, the mutual gushing — point to them still being together. Whether it goes the distance is the question neither of them can answer from a press line.

Wicked: For Good is in theaters now. If you have thoughts on Grande-Slater, you already know where the comment box is.