Ariana Grande’s Wicked co-star and low-key boyfriend Ethan Slater set tongues wagging when he showed up to the musical’s world movie premiere on Sunday, with a flurry of social media users engaging in an intense debate over his appearance (and life decisions) after seeing his kind gesture toward a fan.
In a video originally shared by X user @melissaapo, the 32-year-old singer-actor is seen interacting with fans on the red carpet event in Sydney, Australia. While signing a copy of the Wicked book for Melissa, the latter asks him if he could give her Glinda-inspired pink friendship bracelet to the 31-year-old pop star.
“Is it possible for you to give this to Ari for me?” Melissa asks in the video while showing Slater the bracelet as he’s signing the book. The actor then responds, “I’m pretty sure she’s coming if you want [to hand it to her], but I can do that. Do you want me to? Sure, yeah of course. Sure, she’ll love it. I’m sure she’ll love it.”
After tucking the bracelet inside his pocket, he proceeds to entertain another fan who asks him to take a selfie with them. Ethan quickly grabs the fan’s phone and poses with them for the photo. After handing the phone back, he smoothly moves on to signing more merch from different supporters and tells the crowd in front of him, “I’m so proud of this movie, I hope you love it. I know you will.”
Melissa’s post, which she captioned, “So so lovely, he truly deserves the world. I hope my bracelet finds its way to u ari,” prompted many social media users to react. Most of them found Ethan and Melissa’s interaction sweet, and some also acknowledged that they were starting to see the actor in a different light because of this.
However, a re-post of the video on an Ariana fan account captioned, “OMG I FEEL SO BAD FOR HIM. He’s so cute and sweet,” which went viral and has since been viewed 6.7 million times, sparked more hate than love for the SpongeBob SquarePants musical actor. Unruly fans attacked Slater’s appearance, while many others pointed out how people shouldn’t patronize someone who cheated on his wife and left his family for another woman.
“He looks like a trans man version of Ari,” one wrote, while another person asked, “CUTE!? Girl wtf drugs you on??????” Someone else commented, “Didn’t he cheat on his wife and leave his kid or something,” as another user added, “There is nothing cute or sweet about abandoning your wife and new born for another piece of meat.”
The footage went viral at the same time Ariana seemingly made her relationship with Ethan Instagram official by sharing photos from the premiere that featured him, marking the first time she’s ever posted a snap with him on her account.
It’s not clear exactly when the romance between the co-stars started, but it was confirmed in July 2023, shortly after the “we can’t be friends (wait for your love” hitmaker announced her split from her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez. Their relationship notoriously received a lot of criticism since Slater also separated from his estranged wife and baby mama, Lilly Jay, around the same time.
Wicked — which also stars Cynthia Erivo, Jonathan Bailey, and Jeff Goldblum, among others — is hitting cinemas worldwide on Nov. 22.
Published: Nov 4, 2024 06:45 pm