Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater split privately after 3 years of dating (original) (raw)

June 8, 2026Updated June 9, 2026, 9:58 a.m. ET

Ariana Grande's "Eternal Sunshine" with Ethan Slater was not meant to be.

The couple has broken up nearly three years after reports of their relationship first emerged, USA TODAY can confirm.

People and TMZ reported June 8 that the "Wicked" stars had quietly broken up months ago, citing unnamed sources close to the actors. USA TODAY has reached out to Grande's and Slater's representatives for comment.

The news comes on the heels of Grande, 32, launching her Eternal Sunshine Tour, which kicked off June 6, six years after her Sweetener World Tour.

Her next album, "Petal," is slated to release July 30.

Their relationship had a rocky start, when reports of their relationship – amid breakups with their respective spouses – started emerging in July 2023, resulting in backlash for the costars. Slater and Grande kept a low profile through global publicity appearances for both "Wicked" and its sequel, "Wicked: For Good," but occasionally shared public support for each other at events and on social media.

"Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie," Grande said in a September 2024 Vanity Fair feature. "A lot of people that were working on it did. We were away for two years. So, of course, I understand why it was a field day for the tabloids to sort of create something that paid their bills."

While Grande said she will "never go into certain details" about her relationship with Slater, she said the "most disappointing part" of the situation was seeing "so many people believe the worst version of it."

"That was definitely a tough ride," she added. Speaking in defense of Slater, the Grammy-winner said there "couldn't be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him."

Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater's relationship sparked amid Dalton Gomez, Lilly Jay divorces

After nearly three years of marriage, Grande and her husband, Dalton Gomez, filed for divorce in September 2023. The couple had separated months earlier, and their divorce was finalized six months later. Slater initiated divorce proceedings against wife Lilly Jay in New York on July 26, 2023, and they reportedly finalized their divorce in September 2024 after five years of marriage.

The day after Slater filed for divorce, Jay told Page Six that Grande was "not a girl’s girl" and added, "My family is just collateral damage."

Jay went on to bash Slater's high-profile relationship in a December 2024 essay for The Cut.

"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," Jay wrote. "While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not. Both of us fiercely love our son 100 percent of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided."

This story has been updated to include new information.

Contributing: Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY