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Ariana Grande’s Friends Don’t Trust Her Amid Ethan Slater Romance: She ‘Shattered’ the ‘Girl Code’
“Not a girl’s girl!” Ariana Grande’s friends are ditching her in droves, a source dishes, after the estranged wife of her new boyfriend, Ethan Slater, put her on blast.
“Ariana didn’t just break girl code. She shattered it into a million pieces,” the source says, adding, “and that’s going to be tough to bounce back from.” While Ariana, 30, insists that she and Ethan, 31, didn’t act on their feelings until after their marriages were over, the source still notes, “there’s a very real sense of ‘lock up your husband’ when it comes to being around her now.”
Ariana found herself in hot water after reports surfaced on July 20 that she and Ethan were dating. The news came just three days after reports surfaced about Ariana’s split from her estranged husband, Dalton Gomez. At the time that her relationship with Ethan was revealed, he was still legally married to his wife, Lilly Jay. The couple were high school sweethearts, got married in November 2018 and welcomed a child in August 2022. While it’s unclear when Ethan and his wife split, the last time he mentioned her on social media was in a Mother’s Day post in May.
Less than one week later, Life & Style confirmed that Ethan had filed for divorce from Lilly after nearly five years of marriage. According to court records viewed by Life & Style, Ethan filed for a contested divorce on July 26 but did not cite the reason for their separation.
One day after the filing, Lilly slammed Ariana in a statement to Page Six, noting, “[Ariana’s] the story, really. Not a girl’s girl. My family is just collateral damage.” Lilly then explained that she is focused on being a “good mom” to her and Ethan’s son.
“The story is [Ariana] and Dalton,” Lilly added.
For Ariana’s part, the “Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored” artist split from estranged husband, Dalton, 28, in January. At the time, Ariana had been in London filming Wicked. With Dalton across the pond in California, the couple struggled to adjust to long-distance. After their initial split in January, Ariana and Dalton attempted to reconcile their marriage. However, their reunion was short-lived and they later decided to split for good.
“Ariana and Dalton really tried to make things work,” a separate source exclusively told Life & Style. “Unfortunately, it just wasn’t meant to be. Ariana and Dalton found themselves drifting apart. They went to therapy, but in the end, they decided not to prolong the inevitable.”
Ariana and Ethan met on the set of Wicked; she is portraying the iconic character Glinda while he is playing Boq, the love interest of Elphaba’s younger sister, Nessarose. The pair appeared to have established a strong friendship in late 2022 through early 2023, and Ariana even seemingly had a good rapport with Lilly. The Grammy Award winner “liked” Ethan’s Mother’s Day Instagram post in May, in which he called his estranged wife “the most loving, caring and most wonderful mom/person in the world.”
