American singer Ariana Grande has spoken out in defense of her partner, actor Ethan Slater, months after he was under heavy scrutiny for leaving his postpartum ex-wife.
The 7 Rings singer spoke to Vanity Fair in a recent interview about the creation of Wicked, the fantasy and musical film that has been her most recent project.
While at it, she opened up about her boyfriend and the backlash he faced when they began dating.
“The back-and-forth throughout the course of my career has been really hard to navigate mentally,” the singer told the publication. “I was this approachable, funny redhead on Nickelodeon and everyone liked me. And then I had one too many hit records, and everyone decided that I was an evil diva. And then other terrible things happened, and all of a sudden I was this hero and this victim.”
The report notes that Grande’s love life has always attracted public interest from her high-profile relationship with rapper Big Sean to Miller to her brief engagement to SNL alum Pete Davidson.
“The scrutiny re-intensified in the summer of 2023, when Grande was reported to be dating her Wicked costar Ethan Slater. Grande had separated from her husband months before the rumors circulated, but tabloids feasted on the fact that Slater, a Tony nominee for playing the title character in SpongeBob SquarePants the Broadway Musical, had a wife and child.”
While noting that Ethan has been widely depicted as someone who left his wife and child to date a pop star, Ariana said that “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him.”
Without going into detail about their relationship, Ariana emphasized on her partner’s strength in character.
“No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about. There is no one on this earth with a better heart, and that is something that no [expletive] tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
People Magazine reports that Grande and Slater’s romance was confirmed in July 2023 after meeting on the set of Wicked.
“This came after Grande separated from her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez, and Slater separated from his ex-wife, Lilly Jay.”
