Ariana Grande Slams Rumors About Boyfriend Ethan Slater

Ariana Grande is defending her boyfriend Ethan Slater from the “disappointing” rumor mill.

While they were both purportedly single when they started dating last year, the two “Wicked” co-stars had just left their respective spouses at the time — spurring rampant rumors of infidelity on Slater’s behalf that Grande is now rebuking.

“The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it,” the Grammy winner told Vanity Fair in an expansive cover-story interview alongside “Wicked” co-star Cynthia Erivo published Monday. “That was definitely a tough ride.”

That ride began last July when reports emerged that Grande and her ex-husband, Dalton Gomez, had called it quits after two years of marriage, and she was now dating Slater — who separated from his high school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, five years after tying the knot.

Grande and Slater became an item mere months after he gave Jay a heartfelt shoutout for Mother’s Day, as the former couple welcomed a son in 2022.

While sources told TMZ that Grande didn’t start dating Slater until he was separated, Jay suggested otherwise at the time.

“Not a girl’s girl,” Jay told Page Six. “Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage.”

Grande said Monday that she “will never go into certain details,” but that there “couldn’t be a less accurate depiction” of Slater “than the one the tabloids spread about him.”

“No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about,” she told Vanity Fair. “There is no one on earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bullshit tabloid can rewrite in real life.”

The optics didn’t help, as Slater left his wife months after their child was born, and Jay’s public statements suggested Grande wasn’t an honest broker. Any malfeasance remains mere rumor, however, which Grande herself has experience with.

“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 told the outlet.

“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 continued. “I will never let disreputable evil tabloids ruin my life or my perception of what is real and good.”