Ariana Grande is already in “thank u, next” mode.
News just broke that the international superstar and Broadway performer Ethan Slater split up months ago, and apparently Grande is doing better than ever amid the fallout from their relationship. A source told People the singer is “doing great” and is “incredibly focused on preparing for her tour.”
The insider continued, “She’s seemed very happy. It’s all been very positive vibes. Being able to reconnect with fans after so many years made her very excited.”
According to the source, Grande’s major focus right now is on her Eternal Sunshine tour, which kicked off this past weekend.
“She’s been wanting to give her fans an amazing show and has put so much work into the show,” the insider told People. “Kicking off her tour was very emotional for her.”
People also broke the news of the breakup on Monday, June 8, with a source telling the outlet, “It’s amicable, they gave lots of time and careful consideration and decided to go their separate ways. They are still friends and very supportive of one another. They have been quietly broken up for several months.”
The two’s relationship was marred by controversy from the start. They met on the set of Wicked, in which Grande portrayed Glinda, and Slater played Boq, while they were both still married to other people. While Grande’s marriage to Dalton Gomez had effectively ended in January 2023, the timeline of Slater’s split from ex-wife Lilly Jay was a lot less clear — though sources assured the public that Slater didn’t begin dating Grande until after his split from Jay. The news of their relationship broke in July 2023.
Things worsened by the fact that at the time of their split, Slater and Jay had a baby son who was under a year old. When news surfaced of the pair’s relationship, a source told Page Six of Jay, “It’s horrible. They were high school sweethearts. They have a baby! She’s a wreck.”
Speaking to Page Six directly that same month, Jay herself said, “[Ariana’s] the story, really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage.”
In a December 2024 essay in The Cut, Jay, a psychologist, wrote, “No one gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash. But I really never thought I would get divorced.”
She continued, “Especially not just after giving birth to my first child and especially not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.”
She also wrote, “Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child.”
Still, Slater and Grande’s relationship evolved into something that seemed quite sweet, and fans slowly began to support it — but now that they’ve broken up, people are wondering whether this whole mess was worth it.
“All that homewrecking and ‘I stole your man 🤪’ music for absolutely nothing 😭,” one person wrote on X.
“There is a special place in h*** for Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater for what they did to Lilly Jay,” said someone else.
“LMAOOOOO imagine abandoning your wife and child and this happens,” added a third.
