One year into her relationship with Ethan Slater, Ariana Grande said the negative attention surrounding their romance “doesn’t get any easier.”
“Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of [Wicked],” Grande, 31, told Vanity Fair in a cover story published on Monday, September 30. “A lot of people that were working on it did. We were away for two years.”
News of Grande and Slater’s relationship broke in July 2023, the same month Us Weekly confirmed that the pop star and Dalton Gomez had separated after two years of marriage. Slater, 32, filed for divorce from his ex-wife, Lilly Jay, shortly after. (Grande and Slater finalized their respective splits in October 2023 and on September 12.)
Speculation quickly arose that the pair ended their relationships as a result of their on-set romance while filming the upcoming Wicked movies. “The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst of it,” Grande told the outlet. “That was definitely a tough ride.”
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Grande went on to slam criticism of Slater, stating, “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being. … 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.”
Noting that she “will never go into certain details” about her and Slater’s relationship, Grande said she won’t let romance rumors ruin her happiness.
“Honestly, it’s taken me a lot of hard work to be able to last this long and to heal certain parts of my relationship to fame and to what I do because of these tabloids that have been trying to destroy me since I was 19 years old,” she shared. “But you know what? I’m 31 years old and I’m not a perfect person, but I am definitely deeply good, and I’m proud of who I’m becoming.”
Grande and Slater will appear on the big screen together as Glinda and Boq, respectively, in the two-part Wicked film adaptation, the first installment of which premieres in theaters on November 22. Three months after their relationship went public, a source exclusively told Us in October 2023 that the couple had moved in together in New York City. A separate insider revealed one month later that Grande and Slater had met each other’s families. (Slater shares a son, born in 2022, with Jay.)
Grande previously opened up about their relationship on a January episode of “The Zach Sang Show,” saying she experienced a “hellish feeling” while seeing others “misunderstand the people that you love and you and anything.”
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She went on to joke that releasing her latest album, Eternal Sunshine, amid her relationship drama was “the absolute worst idea,” stating, “I’m so nervous, because pieces of it touch on things that are real and then pieces of it are also just, like, part of the concept. So, what is that separation?” (The record, released in March, features songs that seemingly refer to her relationships with Slater and Gomez, 29.)
“[Ariana] is her authentic self with Ethan,” another source shared with Us in June. “It’s not superficial, but more intellectual and emotional.” The insider said Grande feels “finally fulfilled in a relationship,” adding, “Her family trusts [Ethan] because he’s caring and a gentleman.”
