It’s the controversial romance that threatens to overshadow the box office phenomenon Wicked. Nearly a decade in the making, the film version of the Broadway musical aimed to recreate the magic of the 1939 classic The Wizard Of Oz, telling the backstory of the two witches Elphaba and Glinda.
But thanks to a rather inappropriate love triangle between pop singer Ariana Grande and her co-star Ethan Slater – who plays a munchkin called Boq – a dark cloud now hangs over the £120 million production.
US chart sensation Ariana, 31, was revealed to be dating Slater in July 2023. The date is important: it was shortly after the end of her two-year marriage to her husband, real estate agent Dalton Gomez.
But later reports from America suggest Ariana and Ethan, 32, had already been eyeing each other a few months earlier.
And that’s not all. At the start of filming, Ethan was also married to his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, the mother of his son, now two.
Lilly and the couple’s then-newborn baby had even moved to Britain to be by his side during his heavy filming schedule for Wicked at Elstree Studios in Hertfordshire. But their marriage has also ended in divorce.
A dark cloud hangs over megahit Wicked amid revelations of an unseemly love triangle involving star Ariana Grande
In July 2023, it was revealed that American sensation Ariana, 31, was dating co-star Ethan Slater
The revelations have sparked a wave of online hatred towards Ariana and Ethan, with some fans even calling on moviegoers to boycott the film. And,
Adding more personal fuel to the burgeoning fire, Lilly this week described the breakdown of her marriage as “the saddest days of my life” in an article she wrote for US publication The Cut.
Describing how she moved to Britain to support Ethan’s career, she revealed that, caught up in motherhood, she “didn’t understand the growing distance between us.”
“The days when I can’t escape promoting a movie tied to the saddest days of my life are darker,” she wrote.
“I’ve learned that motherhood fills your time, but not your mind. I am working diligently on my private project: coming to terms with the sudden public demise of my marriage.
‘I never thought I would get a divorce. Especially not right after the birth of my first child, and not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.
“This, I tell myself, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide.”
Lilly – a psychologist specializing in pregnancy and postpartum mental health – also speculated that news of the couple’s romance caused her work to dry up.
Her words are careful – and some might say, even subdued. But as friends of Ethan and Ariana say, the timeline “speaks for itself.” One told the Mail: ‘Ethan and Ariana are fully aware of what happened, as are everyone who was around. [Lilly] made it clear that she was moving to London with him and the timeline from then on speaks for itself.
“Filming was still going on when they were first seen being intimate in photos and Lilly was no longer there, so people can put two and two together – Lilly didn’t have to do that.”
But Lilly’s dignity has only infuriated Wicked fans. As someone wrote online, “Ariana did what she did was bad, but Ethan is the one who went out of his way to entertain her. Either way, they deserve all the hate they get. Better yet, boycott the Wicked movie.”
Such a boycott could of course cost Universal Pictures, the company behind the film, many millions if it gained any attention.
Arian at the Wicked film premiere at London’s Royal Festival Hall last month
It’s all far from ideal for Florida-born Ariana, whose career has revolved around being a role model for girls and young women. She was a child actress who went on to become a healthy pop star with a young fan base.
In 2017, she suffered tragedy after a suicide bomber attacked the Manchester Arena during one of her concerts. She later performed to raise money for the families of the 22 dead and the 119 left seriously injured.
Ariana is said to have suffered from post-traumatic stress in the aftermath, saying: ‘Not a day goes by that this doesn’t still affect us all.’ Her love life has always matched her wholesome image. She dated actor and comedian Pete Davidson in 2018, and was with singer Mac Miller from 2016 to 2018.
In March 2020, she confirmed her relationship with Gomez, and by December of the same year, the pair were engaged.
They got married in a modest ceremony, in front of just 20 guests, in May 2021. And when they filed for divorce two years later, in 2023, they cited “irreconcilable differences” for their divorce.
Meanwhile, Ethan and Lilly reportedly met in high school and started dating in 2012 while still in college. Lilly remained loyal to him when he went to study drama at Vassar College in Poughkeepsie, New York.
Ethan next starred in a musical production of SpongeBob SquarePants in Chicago, for which he earned a 2018 Tony Award nomination for Best Actor in a Musical. He and Lilly married the same year.
The couple celebrated their fourth wedding anniversary in a now-deleted Instagram post from 2022 in which he called her his “best friend” and wrote, “Married for four years, together for ten years. And this is by far the best (and *most bizarre*) year yet.” They welcomed their son in August 2022. But their marriage didn’t last much longer and their divorce was finalized earlier this year.
Over the past few months, Ethan hasn’t been able to stop himself from showering Ariana with compliments at every opportunity.
On actress Jennifer Hudson’s talk show last month, he said of his new flame: “She’s so funny, a comedic genius, she’s amazing.”
And when asked what it’s like “to see the woman you love fulfill her dream role,” he replied: “It was such an honor to see Ariana do her thing, she’s so talented.”
‘People will be amazed. She’s the funniest person on earth.’
The situation is far from ideal for Florida-born Ariana, whose career revolved around being a role model for girls and young women.
Ethan has also met Ariana’s family, and last year the couple enjoyed a Christmas Eve dinner in New York with her father and sister.
Frankie Grande, her brother, has given the relationship his blessing. At the Wicked premiere last month he said: ‘I love [Ethan]he’s a great guy. I’ve always said that all I want is for my sister to be happy. If she’s happy, so am I.’
While it’s unlikely they’ll be happy about Lilly’s cry from the heart, friends of Ariana and Ethan say they’re ultimately relieved it wasn’t worse. As one person said, “They’re relieved Lilly didn’t throw them under the bus.”
But what the implications are for Wicked itself remains to be seen.