Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater‘s relationship is on full display as they promote Wicked together but there’s one piece of the Wicked-mania puzzle fans can’t seem to forget — the scandalous beginning to their relationship and Slater’s ex-wife, Lilly Jay.
Slater officially filed for divorce from Jay on July 26, 2023 after People reported that he “recently” started dating Grande. This came a week after sources also began to report that Grande separated from her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez, back in January of that year.
However, speculation soon brew that the timeline being presented was blurrier than what really happened, leading to rumors of an affair between Slater and Grande.
For all the details on Jay, her marriage to Slater, their breakup and what went down after the alleged affair, keep reading.
All About Ethan Slater’s Ex-Wife, Lilly Jay
Slater and Jay were married from 2018 until their 2023 divorce. Slater and Jay were high school sweethearts who started dating in 2013 after several years of friendship.
The couple share a son who was born in 2022. In an October 2024 interview with GQ, Slater called being a dad the “best thing in the world” but expressed his desire to keep his son, whose name has not been revealed publicly, private.
“It’s been an interesting thing to navigate as a new parent. There’s nothing I want to do more than just show you pictures and talk about him because he’s the best and the light of my life. But I also want to give him the opportunity to meet the world on his own terms,” Slater said.
Jay Is a Psychology Lab Assistant & Activist
According to Daily Mail, Jay, who attended Amherst College, has been a psychology lab assistant and clinical psychology extern at a Brooklyn lab since 2017.
Jay is the founder of the It’s On Us initiative, an organization that provides awareness about sexual assault and encourages bystanders to intervene. In 2014, she even gave a speech at the White House raising awareness for campus sexual assault. Then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden were both in attendance.
“When nonsurvivors step up and say, ‘I don’t need to be hurt to care about assault,’ they give survivors permission to move our hearts from the edge of our sleeves back to where they belong,” Jay said in her speech, per Bust. “Hearing my friends, family, and professors say, ‘You don’t need to stay hurt to convince us to care’ freed me. That’s when I got back my college experience.”
So, Did Slater Really Cheat On Jay With Grande?
Neither Slater, Grande or Jay have explicitly confirmed or denied an affair but reports speculate that infidelity occurred. Fans who do believe Slater cheated on Jay point to the timeline of his divorce and his romance with his co-star.
Grande and Slater met while working on Wicked together, which began filming in December 2022. According to a July 2023, TMZ report, Grande separated from her husband, Gomez, in January 2023. In August of that year, sources told the Daily Mail that Slater and Grande were seen packing on the PDA as early as March. “They were seen making out at a pub in Hampstead, and they were all over each other at Michelle Yeoh’s Oscar party [in March],” the source said.
“They were sloppy on set,” the insider added. “They were seen being all over each other while he was still supposedly happily married to Lilly.”
As eagle-eyed fans noticed, however, Jay and Slater were still gushing about each other on social media around this time. In May 2023, Slater labeled Jay “the most loving caring and wonderful mom/person in the world” in a Mother’s Day Instagram post. On June 1, Jay posted a tribute to Slater for his birthday. “Happy birthday to my incredible husband,” she wrote in a post on Facebook. “Here’s to a lifetime of love and more adventures ahead.”
Though some sources claim Slater and Grande were both separated by the time they started dating, an Us Weekly source said, “Ethan sat Lilly down a few days before the news broke about him and Ariana and said that he wanted a divorce. Lilly never saw it coming!”
So was an affair ever confirmed? Not quite. Is there enough evidence to believe there was one? Absolutely.
Jay Spoke Out About Grande Amid Affair Rumors
Following Slater’s request for a divorce, Jay spoke out for the first and only time to address the affair rumors.
“[Ariana’s] the story, really. Not a girl’s girl,” Jay told Page Six on July 27, 2023. “My family is just collateral damage.”
Grande appeared to deny the media’s characterization of her and Slater’s romance during a February 2024 appearance on The Zach Sang Show. “I feel like we don’t need to go into any specifics, but, of course, there’s like an insatiable frustration, inexplicable, hellish feeling with watching people, misunderstand the people you love and you and anything,” Grande said.
She reiterated a similar sentiment in a September interview with Vanity Fair. “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him,” Grande said of Slater but added that she “will never go into certain details.”
What Does Lilly Jay’s Life Look Like Now?
Jay has remained out of the public eye since her divorce from Slater, which was finalized in September. Jay deleted her Instagram and other social media platforms after everything went down.
Back when news of their split broke, Jay talked about her priority after her divorce: her son. “She’s focusing on raising the baby and being ‘a good mom.’” Page Six reported.
“I am focused on rebuilding a life for our son and rebuilding a life for him,” Jay told Daily Mail. “This is what I am trying to do and this is my only focus.”
Before you go, click here to see all the celebrity couples who have stayed together after cheating scandals.
