Ethan Slater isn’t saying much about where things stand with Ariana Grande — even as rumors swirl that the couple may have quietly split.
During an appearance on the Today show Friday, the actor was asked what it was like “working with [his] girlfriend every day,” but he sidestepped the question entirely. Instead of addressing his relationship, Slater, 33, shifted the conversation to the project itself, praising “the entire cast [of ‘Wicked: For Good’] … incredible.”
He did offer kind words for Grande, 32, calling her a “brilliant” performer, while also shouting out Cynthia Erivo as “remarkable.” Watching Grande and Erivo bring Glinda and Elphaba to life “from such a high level up close” was “pretty special” for him.
“We filmed it years ago,” the Tony nominee told viewers. “I didn’t forget how amazing their performances were, but [I loved] getting to watch it with an audience.”
Slater went on to say he’s attended “all the premieres,” adding that it’s “fun” to experience the film with the crowd. “I’m so proud of everyone I got to work with. We’re, like, a family,” he said.
His vague responses come at a time when speculation about a possible breakup has been heating up — particularly since he and Grande have been keeping their space at recent events. Although he did include a photo of the Grammy winner in an Instagram carousel earlier this month, the two didn’t show any PDA in the image.
Grande and Slater were first romantically linked in July 2023, the same period he filed for divorce from Lilly Jay, the mother of his now-3-year-old son. Jay later criticized Grande, telling Page Six that the pop star was “not a girl’s girl.” Grande’s own marriage to Dalton Gomez came to an end later that year.
In late 2024, Grande spoke glowingly about Slater, calling him “adorable” and “amazing” in an Entertainment Tonight interview. Slater described their romance as “a beautiful thing” in GQ around the same time.
Jay, meanwhile, addressed her and Slater’s co-parenting arrangement in a December 2024 essay for The Cut. “While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not,” she wrote. “Both of us fiercely love our son 100 percent of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided.” She added that time with her son feels “sunny,” but admitted, “Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker.”