Ethan Slater‘s estranged wife Lilly Jay is speaking out after news broke of their split — and his romance with Ariana Grande.
“[Ariana’s] the story really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage,” Jay told Page Six on Thursday, July 27, before addressing Grande’s marriage with Dalton Gomez. “The story is her and Dalton.”
Jay, who shares a 12-month-old child with Slater, 31, said her focus has been on being “a good mom” amid their divorce. Her statement comes one day after Us Weekly confirmed that Slater filed for divorce following five years of marriage.
Earlier this month, Slater made headlines when news broke that he was dating his Wicked costar Grande, 30. (The actress, for her part, pulled the plug on her relationship with Gomez, 27, as well.)
“Ariana and Ethan are dating; however things are fairly new. Ariana and Dalton split in January, and Ethan is separated from his wife,” a source exclusively told Us on Tuesday, July 25. “Ariana and Ethan have only recently begun seeing each other but they have a lot of fun together and are enjoying each other’s company.”
Slater and Grande, who met on set, have yet to publicly address their romance. A second source, meanwhile, said their connection wasn’t a surprise to those around them.
“Ariana and Ethan weren’t careful,” the insider shared. “They’d hold hands on set in between takes. They were sloppy and not hiding it.”
Grande is currently focused on her future after separating from Gomez following two years of marriage. “Ariana’s determined to move forward,” a third source told Us. “As sad as it is, the consensus on both sides is that this is ultimately for the best. Ariana and Dalton are two very different people.”
Two months before her romance with Slater made headlines, Grande publicly paid tribute to Gomez on their second wedding anniversary. “2, (3.5 together!!!),” she captioned an Instagram photo of her and Gomez at their nuptials. “I love him so.”
Aside from celebrating their anniversary, Grande has been quiet on social media while filming Wicked. In April, she made a rare online appearance to slam body-shamers.
“I don’t do this often. I don’t like it. I’m not good at it,” she said in an April TikTok. “I just wanted to address your concerns about my body. There are ways to compliment someone or to ignore something that you don’t like that I think we should help each other work towards. Just to aim towards keeping each other safer.”
Grande continued: “There are many different kinds of beautiful. There are many different ways to look healthy and beautiful. The body that you’ve been comparing my current body to [what] was the unhealthiest version of my body. … [I was] at the lowest point of my life when I looked the way you consider ‘my healthy.’ That in fact wasn’t ‘my healthy.’ You never know what someone is going through. So be gentle with each other and yourselves.”
