UPDATE 7/27/2023: The day after Ethan Slater filed for divorce from his wife Lilly Jay, Lilly gave a statement to Page Six where she slammed Ariana Grande. “[Ariana’s] the story really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage,” Lilly told Page Six. She also said, “The story is her and Dalton,” speaking about Ariana and her estranged husband Dalton Gomez.
ORIGINAL STORY: Ethan Slater, Ariana Grande‘s rumored boyfriend, has filed for divorce from his wife of five years, Lilly Jay, per TMZ. Court documents the outlet claimed to have obtained reportedly revealed that he officially filed on Wednesday, July 26 — just days after rumors of an affair between him and Ariana swirled around the internet. Ethan, 31, reportedly met Ariana, 30, on the set of the highly anticipated Wicked film, which began filming in England this year.
The rumored romance followed reports that the “thank u, next” singer and her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez, called it quits. The couple had been rumored to be on the rocks for quite some time, and the distance did them no good. “She was happy in Los Angeles for a couple of years. She wanted to make a life there with Dalton,” a person close to the pop superstar told PEOPLE on July 17. However, Ariana and Dalton’s commitment to their respective careers seemingly drove a wedge between them.
“It’s definitely been an issue for them. Dalton’s career [as a luxury real estate agent] is demanding and he can’t leave Los Angeles often,” the insider claimed. “So when [Ariana] started filming Wicked in England, they were in for a long-distance marriage.” The source added that there is no bad blood between Ariana and Dalton, and that Dalton was completely supportive of Ariana during their union.
Meanwhile, Ethan and Lilly were high school sweethearts who tied the knot in 2018. In 2022, they welcomed a son together. Lilly was reportedly “blindsided” by her split from Ethan, according to Page Six. “It’s horrible. … She’s a wreck,” a source for the publication claimed. The person also claimed that “nothing appeared wrong between” Ethan and Lilly, so many people around them think Ariana was the cause of their split.
Ethan reportedly told Lilly about his unconfirmed romance with the former Nickelodeon star a few days before the news became public, according to Us Weekly. However, another person told the outer that the actors “were separated when they started dating and the relationship is recent.”
Ethan nor Ariana has commented on the relationship rumors or their respective divorces at the time of this writing.