{"id":63,"date":"2025-03-03T02:35:30","date_gmt":"2025-03-03T02:35:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/?p=63"},"modified":"2025-03-03T02:35:30","modified_gmt":"2025-03-03T02:35:30","slug":"during-her-wicked-promotional-tour-ariana-grande-promoted-her-contentious-relationship-with-co-star-ethan-slater-who-was-married-and-had-a-baby-when-they-began-production-she-said-read-more","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/?p=63","title":{"rendered":"During her Wicked promotional tour, Ariana Grande promoted her contentious relationship with co-star Ethan Slater, who was married and had a baby when they began production. She said Read more"},"content":{"rendered":"

The romance between Ariana Grande and her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, as well as concerns over the duration of their connection, has swiftly eclipsed the production since it was first made public.<\/p>\n

With years of delays behind them and a staggering $145 million budget at stake, Universal Pictures studio executives were “worried” about how their contentious collaboration would affect the film’s box office performance.<\/p>\n

Slater was married to Lilly Jay, his high school sweetheart, and the two were enjoying the first few months of their new baby boy’s life when he joined the project, which started filming in December 2022.<\/p>\n

In the summer of 2023, news broke that Ariana had split from her husband Dalton Gomez and just days later it emerged that she was dating Slater \u2013 who hadn\u2019t yet publicly announced his separation from his wife.<\/p>\n

Grande and Slater\u2019s romance sparked uproar among her followers. This was exacerbated when Jay slammed the Thank You, Next singer in a series of disparaging interviews in which she claimed Ariana is \u2018not a girl\u2019s girl\u2019 and accused Grande of seeing her family as nothing more than \u2018collateral damage.\u2019<\/p>\n

According to insiders, the couple was told to “disappear for six months” in the hopes that the criticism would subside before the eagerly anticipated musical hit movie theaters opened on November 22. Nevertheless, the duo has been unable to resist showing off their affection during the Wicked Press Tour.<\/p>\n

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Look of love: Ariana and Ethan at the Wicked Los Angeles premiere, where the singer fussed over her boyfriend on the red carpet\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Studio execs were so \u2018worried\u2019 about the impact Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater\u2019s relationship would have on Wicked\u2019s success that they instructed the couple to \u2018disappear for six months\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ethan Slater with his ex-wife Lily Jay, who he was married to when he started shooting Wicked in December 2022\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

While the couple have stopped short of hard-launching their relationship on social media, Ariana has been using Instagram to drop clues to her fans that the relationship is serious.<\/p>\n

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During the Sydney stop-off on their press tour, she shared a snap of Ethan playing the dutiful boyfriend by helping her down the stairs in a voluminous pink ballgown.<\/p>\n

And she\u2019s been seen fussing over him on the red carpet, lovingly straightening his bow tie and reaching out to hold his hand.<\/p>\n

Earlier this week, she shared snaps to Instagram of her trip back to her hometown\u00a0Boca Raton, Florida, to watch Wicked.<\/p>\n

Fans were quick to notice that Ethan, who plays munchkin Boq, was in the background of a photo she posed for with fans in the lobby of the Cinemark 20 cinema.<\/p>\n

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Ethan also spent time with Ariana\u2019s beloved grandmother Marjorie Grande, also known as \u2018Nonna,\u2019 during the visit.<\/p>\n

Ariana made sure to credit her boyfriend as the photographer in snaps of her cuddling up to her grandmother during the screening.<\/p>\n

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Not all of her tributes have been quite so subtle, however.<\/p>\n

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PDA: While the pair have tried to keep their relationship under wraps, they could not resists subtle displays of affection on the red carpet in New York where Ariana was seen reaching for Ethan\u2019s hand<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The pair shared an embrace during the New York premiere of Wicked, after trying to keep their relationship low-key<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ariana Grande celebrated her starring role in Wicked by sharing behind-the-scenes photos in her hometown \u2013 and fans noticed he was also in the pictures\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Ariana shared this snap of Ethan holding her dress during the press tour stop in Sydney \u2013 a clear sign that they\u2019re a couple\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wicked\u2019s Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo pose for TikTok<\/p>\n

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Opening up to\u00a0Entertainment Tonight<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0during the LA premiere of Wicked, she branded Ethan, who is known for playing Spongebob Squarepants on Broadway, \u2018adorable.\u2019<\/p>\n

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Should they have kept their relationship private?<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\u2018He\u2019s so amazing in this film, he\u2019s such an amazing person, I\u2019m so happy people are getting to know him.\u00a0My heart is very happy,\u2019 she gushed.<\/p>\n

Ethan has also taken tentative steps into venturing information about the couple\u2019s relationship, confirming to\u00a0GQ\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>that he had indeed \u2018fallen in love\u2019 during fliming.<\/p>\n

He added that it\u00a0had been \u2018a really super big year\u2019 while navigating the backlash over them getting together, which had been \u2018really difficult\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u2018There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it\u2019s really hard to see people who don\u2019t know anything about what\u2019s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love,\u2019 he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018But, of course, it was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing, and I\u2019m just really excited. I\u2019m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she\u2019s done on this.\u2019<\/p>\n

Ariana echoed similar sentiments in another interview, insisting the couple have been \u2018misunderstood\u2019.<\/p>\n

She explained on the Zach Sang show: \u2018There\u2019s an instatiable frustration\u2026inexplicable hellish feeling, with watching people misundertand the people you love \u2013 and you.\u2019<\/p>\n

While fans may now be more accepting of the relationship, Ariana was instantly labelled a \u2018homewrecker\u2019 when she was first linked to her co-star.<\/p>\n

\u2018When news of the relationship first broke, studio execs were extremely worried about how it would impact the film,\u2019 a source told DailyMail.com. \u2018They were feeling the heat and Ariana and Ethan were instructed to disappear for six months, which they did.\u2019<\/p>\n

The co-stars met in December 2022 on the UK set of the film adaptation of the Broadway hit, in which Grande, 31, plays Glinda \u2014 the good witch \u2014 alongside Slater, 32, as munchkin Boq.<\/p>\n

At the time, Grande was still married to Dalton Gomez.<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0She filed for divorce in September 2023 and listed the date of separation as February 20, 2023.<\/p>\n

The singer announced her separation from Gomez just three days before confirming her new relationship with Slater.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Slater\u00a0was married to his high school sweetheart,\u00a0Lilly Jay, when he joined the production.<\/p>\n

The actor, who welcomed his first child with Jay in 2022, filed for divorce in July 2023 \u2013 five years after they tied the knot.<\/p>\n

He cited irreconcilable differences and asked for joint custody of their son. The pair\u00a0eventually finalized their divorce\u00a0<\/strong><\/a>in September 2023.<\/p>\n

A source close to Ariana and Ethan claimed that the singer \u2018hung out\u2019 with Lilly and her newborn baby multiple times before her romance with her co-star was revealed \u2013 and reportedly even told those around her how much she \u2018wanted a baby one day\u2019 after bonding with Lilly and Ethan\u2019s son.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ariana met their baby and even held him,\u201d an insider told the Daily Mail. \u2018They had dinners together in London \u2014 and Ariana told Lilly that she wanted to have a baby one day and that she couldn\u2019t wait to start a family.\u2019<\/p>\n

In May 2023, two months before news of his realtionship with Ariana emerged, the singer liked Ethan\u2019s Mother\u2019s Day tribute to his wife on Instagram.<\/p>\n

\u2018Happy First Mother\u2019s Day to the most loving caring and wonderful mom\/person in the world,\u2019 he wrote.<\/p>\n

When news of his relationship with Ariana emerged in July, sources close to the couple were quick to quash any suggestion of an affair, insisting that both had separated from their spouses before getting together.<\/p>\n

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A source told DailyMail.com:\u00a0\u2018When news of the relationship first broke, studio execs were extremely worried about how it would impact the film. They were feeling the heat\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

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The insider highlighted the fact Grande and Slater remain keen to avoid having a detrimental impact on the film\u2019s success (pictured with their co-stars in Sydney)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Ariana Grande opens up on Ethan Slater controversy<\/p>\n

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The source added: \u2018Ariana was terrified that her personal actions would cause this film to bomb\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Following months of \u2018homewrecker\u2019 allegations, Ariana hit back in her January 2024 singe yes, and?, which includes the lyrics: \u2018Your business is yours, and mine is mine\/ Why do you care so much whose d*** I ride?\u2019<\/p>\n

A source close to Lilly Jay, 29, slammed the singer for her \u2018disrespectful\u2019 attitude and accused her of a complete lack of \u2019empathy.\u2019<\/p>\n

Following the continuous flow of negative headlines, Grande and Slater refrained from the spotlight making only a handful of public appearances including his opening night in the Spamalot Broadway show.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ariana and Ethan are professionals and know better than to bring their personal relationship to promotional events,\u2019 the insider said.<\/p>\n

\u2018Ariana was terrified that her personal actions would cause this film to bomb. They are both divorced and people have moved on from this.\u2019<\/p>\n

Though Slater only broke his year-long silence about their romance\u00a0last month, the cast has come together to support their costars.<\/p>\n

\u2018Everyone knows that they are in a serious relationship,\u2019 the insider continued. \u2018Everyone was instructed to not discuss this with anyone, and they are all well aware that they will answer no questions about this.\u2019<\/p>\n

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The romance between Ariana Grande and her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater, as well as concerns over the duration of their connection, has swiftly eclipsed the production since it was first made public. With years of delays behind them and a… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":64,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-63","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=63"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63\/revisions\/65"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/64"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=63"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=63"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/htd.sofamoci.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=63"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}