After Nearly 3 Years, Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater Call It Quits

The Wicked romance that captivated headlines is officially over. Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have ended their nearly three-year relationship, according to sources close to the pair. The split is being described as amicable—the kind where both people genuinely wish the other well and part as friends, not enemies plotting revenge on social media.

What makes this breakup noteworthy isn’t just that it happened, but the context surrounding it. Grande, 32, and Slater met on the set of Wicked in 2023 while playing Glinda and Boq respectively. Both were entangled in divorces at the time—Grande from Dalton Gomez (married 2021 to 2024) and Slater from Lily Jay (married 2018, divorced September 2024). The relationship that bloomed from that collision of circumstance became tabloid gold: two actors finding love while untangling themselves from previous marriages. It was messy, it was human, and it definitely drew criticism.

Sources say Grande has been quietly broken up from Slater for several months now, but she’s keeping busy. The pop star is focused on her Eternal Sunshine Tour and working on new music—both solid moves for channeling post-breakup energy into something productive. As for Slater, no word yet on what he’s up to, but the insider notes that the two remain supportive of each other, which is genuinely the dream scenario when a high-profile relationship ends.

What’s interesting here is how Grande and Slater handled the noise around their romance. In a September 2024 interview with Vanity Fair, Grande acknowledged that public criticism of their relationship doesn’t get easier, but she pushed back hard against attacks on Slater’s character. She called him someone who“tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about”and insisted“there is no one on this earth with a better heart.”That kind of fierce defense from an ex usually signals a breakup rooted in genuine incompatibility or life direction, not betrayal or drama.

By December 2024, sources were painting a picture of a couple still in the honeymoon phase, describing Grande as“over the moon about Ethan”and noting they had more in common than she’d had with past partners. Even in February, when Grande earned an Oscar nomination for her Glinda performance, Slater showed up with nothing but pride, telling reporters he was“unbelievably proud of her”for the work she and Cynthia Erivo put into the film.

So what changed between December and now? Life does. People drift. Priorities shift. Sometimes a relationship that feels right at one moment doesn’t anymore. Grande’s learned to slow down after moving quickly through past relationships, and maybe that measured approach revealed something neither of them could fix. The fact that they’re still friends and mutual supporters suggests this wasn’t a dramatic implosion—it was two people recognizing that the next chapter works better separately than together.