'Wicked's' Ethan Slater Celebrates Ariana Grande’s Oscar Nomination With Rare Post
Ethan Slater is a sentimental man—especially when it comes to girlfriend Ariana Grande.
After nominations for the 2025 Oscars were revealed by their Wicked costar Bowen Yang and Rachel Sennott Jan. 23, the Broadway star—who met his girlfriend on the set of Wicked—was especially excited to see the 31-year-old among the nominees for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her role as Glinda in the stage-to-screen film. (See here for a complete list of 2025 Oscar Nominations.)
“Oscar,” he wrote on his Instagram Stories alongside several reposts celebrating Ariana’s achievement. “Nominated.”
He also brought his love to the grid, sharing a photo of her holding a bouquet of pink balloons while standing on a windowsill looking out. And he let the photo and Ariana’s moment speak for itself, leaving the snap captionless.
Joining the “We Can’t Be Friends” singer in the category ahead of the 97th Academy Awards Ceremony, which will be hosted by Conan O’Brien, are nominees Monica Barbaro, Felicity Jones, Isabella Rossellini and Zoe Saldaña.
Shortly after hearing the news, the “thank u next” singer took to her own social media to express the overwhelming emotions she was feeling.
“Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you so much to @theacademy for this unfathomable recognition,” she wrote in her Jan. 23 Instagram post, which included throwbacks to her lifelong love of Wicked. “I cannot stop crying, to no one’s surprise.”
She further reflected on how much the story of Oz and its inhabitants—including the 1939 movie Wizard of Oz—has meant to her.
“I’m humbled and deeply honored to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ just before the big, beautiful bubble entered,” she continued, “i’m so proud of you, tiny.”
Ethan Slater / Instagram
And, of course, she couldn’t forget to show her appreciation for her Wicked family that played a part in bringing her to this surreal moment.
“Thank you @jonmchu for taking this chance on me and for being the most unbelievably brilliant leader, human being, and most fierce friend,” she gushed. “I am so deeply proud of my beautiful Wicked family. i am so proud of my Elphie, my sister, my dear @cynthiaerivo. your brilliance is never ending and you deserve every flower (tulip) in every garden. i love you unconditionally, always.”
Emilia Pérez leads nominations with 13 nods, with Wicked and The Brutalist following closely behind with 10 nods each. Ariana’s costar Cynthia Erivo also scored a Best Actress nod for her role as Elphaba in the musical, along with the Wizard of Oz prequel’s nominations for Best Picture, Best Original Score, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects.
But while Ethan, 32, made his excitement about these nominations incredibly clear, it was only two months ago that he was celebrating the film’s success just as enthusiastically with Ariana and her grandmother Marjorie “Nonna” Grande in a Florida movie theater.
“Flew to Boca for a day to watch with Nonna at the movie theater I grew up going to every weekend, Cinemark 20 in Boca,” Ariana wrote on a November Instagram Story photo of her sitting beside her grandma and brother Frankie Grande, adding, “Photo by @ethanslater.”
To look back at Ariana and Ethan’s romance in photos, keep reading…
Just A Little Bit Of Her Heart: September 2023
After a source close to the couple—who met on the set of Wicked—told E! News they had “recently” begun dating in July 2023, Grande subtly supported Slater by “liking” a photo announcing his role in Spamalot on Broadway in early September 2023.
Later that same month, the two were seen out together for the first time at, naturally, Grande’s favorite place on Earth, Disney World. In photos shared by TMZ, the duo walked around the Florida theme park arm-in-arm.
A source close to Grande and Slater told E! News after the excursion, “they went with a big group of friends including her mom and brother and are really happy and really good for each other.”
KHAP / BACKGRID
It’s Supernatural: October 2023
The costars engaged in some subtle PDA at dinner in New York City in photos obtained by TMZ. A few weeks later, Grande stepped out to support Slater during previews of Spamalot on Broadway where he played The Historian/Prince Herbert.
Grande was gleaming as she made her way out of St. James Theater alongside friends, sporting a paper crown from the show and clutching a Playbill.
Ariana Grande/Instagram
She Loves to Seem Him From Her POV: November 2023
Grande later attended the opening night of Spamalot and shared an Instagram post highlighting her evening. In the photos, Grande sported an elegant black dress and accessorized with sheer black gloves and a Spamalot cup. The last slide of her carousel included a nod to the cast—which included Slater—with a message reading, “Happy Opening of Broadway Show.”
Elsa/Getty Images
Doing Winter Things: December 2023-January 2024
In a rare life update on Instagram in Dec. 2023, Grande showed off some of her holiday celebrating a photo of a wall Christmas tree with a Spam can ornament. Fans quickly pointed out the connection to Slater, as Spamalot was running on Broadway at the time.
On Dec. 23, 2023, the couple stepped out with Grande’s father Ed Butera for dinner in New York City.
That same month, Grande teased new music and would go on to announce Eternal Sunshine in early 2024. Although no songs are explicitly about Slater on the album, fans pointed out that the album’s initials, E.S., coincidentally—or not—match the initials of Ariana’s boyfriend.
Frankie Grande / Instagram
Love Isn’t Completely Off The Table: Summer 2024
In March 2024, Ariana and ex Dalton Gomez finalized their divorce. That summer, Grande’s brother Frankie Grande gave her new romance his stamp of approval.
“I love him,” Frankie said of Slater in a June 2024 interview with TooFab. “He’s a very sweet guy.”
A few days after Frankie’s interview went live, Grande and Slater attended the 2024 Stanley Cup final in Florida together—marking their most public joint outing since their romance debut.
Don Arnold/WireImage
This Is the True Story: September 2024
In an interview with Vanity Fair published in Sept. 2024, Grande addressed her romance with Slater publicly for the first time—pushing back on the speculation of the couple's romantic timeline overlapping with their previous relationships.
“It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” she told the outlet. “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.”
Grande went on to defend Slater against any negativity thrown at him.
“There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him,” Grande added. “No one on this earth tries harder or spreads themselves thinner to be there for the people that he loves and cares about. There is no one on this earth with a better heart, and that is something that no bullshit tabloid can rewrite in real life.”
That same month, Slater finalized his divorce with ex Lilly Jay—with whom he shares a young son.
Saverio Marfia/Getty Images
Imperfect For Each Other: November 2024
A month after he showed support for Grande’s October 2024 Saturday Night Live hosting gig, Slater addressed their relationship—and the scrutiny surrounding it—for the first time.
“It was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing,” Slater reflected on falling in love with Grande while filming Wicked in a Oct. 2024 GQ interview. “I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this. She’s poured herself into it.”
Still, Slater admitted he found it difficult to wait for people to like him again as they clung to their papers and pens.
“I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public,” he added. “There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it.”
But he was able to block out the noise somewhat. As he added of Grande’s song “Imperfect For You,” which is rumored to be about him, “I love that song.”
Media-Mode / SplashNews.com
Magical Moments: November 2024
One short day in the Emerald City, or rather in the Australian city of Sydney, Grande and Slater attended a press event for Wicked and wrapped their arms around each other.
The 2025 Academy Awards air Sunday, Mar. 2, at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT on ABC and Hulu.
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