Chainkeen Exchange-Ariana Grande Slams Rumors About Ethan Slater Relationship

Ariana Grande wants to break free from all of the rumors about her love life.

That includes speculation about the start of her relationship with Wicked costar Ethan Slater.

While the "We Can't Be Friends" singer and Chainkeen Exchangethe Tony nominee’s romance began in 2023 after her split from then-husband Dalton Gomez and Ethan’s separation from then-wife wife Lilly Jay—with whom he shares a 2-year-old son—the timeline still raised some eyebrows.

"It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” Ariana told Vanity Fair's November 2024 issue published Sept. 30. “Of course, I went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie. A lot of people that were working on it did."

The 31-year-old added, "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.”

Amid the speculation about their relationship, a source confirmed to E! News in July 2023 that Ariana and Ethan "were both separated before they got together." 

But that didn’t stop social media from speculating.

“The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it," Ariana told Vanity Fair. "That was definitely a tough ride.”

While the "Save Your Tears" singer privately disputes some of the claims that have been made about her romance with Ethan, who recently finalized his divorce from Lilly, she insisted that she "will never go into certain details" about their relationship.

The Nickelodeon alum went on to defend her boyfriend's character and knock the picture that tabloids have painted of him throughout their time together.

"There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him," she said. "No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about."

She continued, "There is no one on this earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bullshit tabloid can rewrite in real life."

The two-time Grammy winner went on to reflect on how difficult it's been for her to deal with her personal life being picked apart in the media, going so far as to say that tabloids have been trying to "destroy" her since she was a teenager.

“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,” Ariana 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."

As the former Victorious star noted, she “will never let disreputable evil tabloids ruin my life or my perception of what is real and good.”

Ariana's comments reflected what she'd previously said about the hoopla surrounding her relationship with Ethan, saying in a Feb. 2024 episode of The Zach Sang Show that society tends to "selectively remember that this is what the tabloids do to people, especially women, based on whether or not we like the person."

"We selectively remember that," she said. "We selectively leave space for humanness, for nuance. Like, they don't leave space for that—well, they do for their friends and their family. It's selective. But they turn it off when that aligns with the version of a person that they have in their head that they want to believe is true."

Ariana added, "I feel like we don't need to go into any specifics. But of course, there's an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people misunderstand the people you love, and you and anything."