"‘My second cousin’s dating Ariana Grande. Yes, the Ariana Grande.’ But as I started to look into the story, I’m not so sure that’s a brag anymore."--Zara Quiter, Seventh Grade
One night, this past December, my mom and I were at my grandparents’ for dinner. My grandma’s brother and his wife were visiting, and we were talking about how their side of the family has been. And that’s when my great uncle, Jonathan Slater, told me how Ethan Slater, his first cousin once removed, the star of Spongebob: The Musical on Broadway, and more recently Spamalot, had left his wife and young baby, and is now dating Ariana Grande.
I was shocked. Like, beyond surprised. I knew that Grande had recently left her husband, but didn’t really look into the whole situation. Now I can go around saying, “My second cousin’s dating Ariana Grande. Yes, the Ariana Grande.” But as I started to look into the story, I’m not so sure that’s a brag anymore.
Lily Jay and Ethan Slater have known each other since high school. Isn’t that sweet? They got married in 2018, and Jonathan Slater (my great uncle), was the Rabbi that married them. “I knew Ethan from family events, primarily his sisters’ Bat Mitzvah ceremonies when they were young. Both those ceremonies took place after his mother died,” Jonathan Slater said. “I got to know [Lily Jay] while they were preparing to get married.”
“Ethan, at the time of their wedding, was performing in Spongebob Squarepants on Broadway as Spongebob, and the wedding was scheduled at a time when he was able to take a day off,” Slater said. “They selected a venue in upstate New York, far out in the country, and the wedding itself took place in a barn, turned into an event place.”
“My recollection is that the wedding was kind of cold, and behind them there was a large barn door that rolled away revealing a beautiful day outside,” Slater said.
Ethan Slater continued to star as Spongebob in Spongebob: The Musical from 2017-2018.
“I thought it was great,” Jonathan Slater said of Ethan Slater’s performance. “I thought that the design of the theater, the use of space, was really quite dramatic. I thought that the actors were really very talented and I thought Ethan was great. He is a very athletic actor, very limber, and he had a very important job in that play. His singing voice and acting capacities are very good,” Slater added.
Then, fast-forward to 2021. Grande married Dalton Gomez.
Ethan Slater and Jay, after having been married for four years, had their first child. Also in that year, Grande moved to the UK to start filming Wicked: Part One, a two-part movie adaption of the Broadway musical, Wicked. Grande is starting as Glinda.
Ethan Slater was cast as Boq in Wicked. And that is where this whole situation begins. Slater and Grande are both cast as main characters in the movie, and at the time, Grande is living in the UK, separately from Gomez who was in LA.
At some point—it's not exactly clear when—Grande and Gomez split.
And that means Grande is single. Now, let’s take a closer look. Slater, probably viewed as a nerdy theater kid in high school, is now starring in a movie. With Grande.
Grande, however, is a full-fledged celebrity. Almost everyone knows her name. She’s won multiple Grammys. She even sang at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. I guess I can understand how Slater fell for her—but that doesn’t excuse his actions. Although in the future Slater, Grande, and Jay may all benefit from the divorce in positive ways, I can’t even imagine how shocked, betrayed, and hurt Jay must have felt when Slater told her the news
However, 8th grade student Mila Boyden feels that people should not give so much of a reaction to celebrities when they divorce. “I feel like [divorce or breaking up] happens all the time, and when celebrities do it, people get really dramatic, but it is really something that a lot of people do, and I feel like just one person shouldn’t be called out about it,” Boyden said.
The foggiest part of this story is whether or not Slater had split from Jay before he started dating Grande. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people cheat on their spouses, and some do so without punishment. But, honestly, this is where I start to feel embarrassed by my relative’s actions. Leaving his wife, and little baby? And if you look at how Grande’s past relationships have ended… Well, Slater’s chances of having a life with Grande are slim.
“They probably began seeing each other before [they both split with their partners]. They probably weren’t in a serious relationship, but I know they did meet before they split with their partners, so maybe they were in a small relationship and they split with their partners because of that,” Boyden said. “I don’t think they split with their partners because of other reasons; I think they split with their partners because they wanted to be together.”
“I never really knew him. I met him very recently. I never had a connection to him before and from what people have told me about him and from meeting him, I was surprised he left his wife,” Yael Goldstein, Slater’s second cousin once removed, said. Goldstein is a 7th grader in Massachusetts.
“I was quite surprised. I was upset for both of them because I think whenever couples separate it's sad to begin with, for them, and for their families,” Jonathan Slater said. “I really have no insight into what happened, I only know that they were working as co-stars on the film version of Wicked, and the work of filming is very intense, very long days, and a lot of time spent together and acting requires really getting to know the other people well. So I imagine that those were some of the things that might have created the conditions that brought them together.”
Ethan Slater has recently joined Spamalot on Broadway as the historian and Herbert. “He’s such a nice guy. I was in New York visiting my grandparents and we saw him in Spamalot and afterward he met up with us and gave us a tour backstage,” Goldstein said. “It was a great show. He’s very talented.”
Then on Jan. 12, Grande released Yes, And? It’s the first single for her upcoming album, Eternal Sunshine. A lyric that probably references to the backlash she has received about her relationship with Slater is, “Your business is your’s and mine is mine/ Why do you care so much whose **** I ride?”
“It seems kind of like a defense. I feel like she’s writing a song to stop calling her out and stop posting rude things about her,” Boyden said.
Kaliyah Smith, a 7th grader, said, “I think it’s mostly about the backlash about how she’s making makeup and how she doesn’t care about it. [The drama with Ethan Slater] probably has something to do with it as well.”
“I know the song has been getting a lot of backlash, but I think the song is great and I actually really like the song. I like the lyrics, I like the beat, I think it all comes together and it makes a good song, and Ariana Grande’s music has always been good and I’m happy she’s making music again,” Smith said.
“[My advice to Ethan] would be to focus on your work and focus on how best to create a mutual and mutually supportive relationship with Lily so that they can truly co-parent their child,” Jonathan Slater said.
In the meantime, I’ll be deciding whether or not to invite this second cousin to my upcoming Bat Mitzvah. Spoiler alert: I don’t think I will. So, Ariana, you are SO not invited to my Bat Mitzvah.
I was shocked. Like, beyond surprised. I knew that Grande had recently left her husband, but didn’t really look into the whole situation. Now I can go around saying, “My second cousin’s dating Ariana Grande. Yes, the Ariana Grande.” But as I started to look into the story, I’m not so sure that’s a brag anymore.
Lily Jay and Ethan Slater have known each other since high school. Isn’t that sweet? They got married in 2018, and Jonathan Slater (my great uncle), was the Rabbi that married them. “I knew Ethan from family events, primarily his sisters’ Bat Mitzvah ceremonies when they were young. Both those ceremonies took place after his mother died,” Jonathan Slater said. “I got to know [Lily Jay] while they were preparing to get married.”
“Ethan, at the time of their wedding, was performing in Spongebob Squarepants on Broadway as Spongebob, and the wedding was scheduled at a time when he was able to take a day off,” Slater said. “They selected a venue in upstate New York, far out in the country, and the wedding itself took place in a barn, turned into an event place.”
“My recollection is that the wedding was kind of cold, and behind them there was a large barn door that rolled away revealing a beautiful day outside,” Slater said.
Ethan Slater continued to star as Spongebob in Spongebob: The Musical from 2017-2018.
“I thought it was great,” Jonathan Slater said of Ethan Slater’s performance. “I thought that the design of the theater, the use of space, was really quite dramatic. I thought that the actors were really very talented and I thought Ethan was great. He is a very athletic actor, very limber, and he had a very important job in that play. His singing voice and acting capacities are very good,” Slater added.
Then, fast-forward to 2021. Grande married Dalton Gomez.
Ethan Slater and Jay, after having been married for four years, had their first child. Also in that year, Grande moved to the UK to start filming Wicked: Part One, a two-part movie adaption of the Broadway musical, Wicked. Grande is starting as Glinda.
Ethan Slater was cast as Boq in Wicked. And that is where this whole situation begins. Slater and Grande are both cast as main characters in the movie, and at the time, Grande is living in the UK, separately from Gomez who was in LA.
At some point—it's not exactly clear when—Grande and Gomez split.
And that means Grande is single. Now, let’s take a closer look. Slater, probably viewed as a nerdy theater kid in high school, is now starring in a movie. With Grande.
Grande, however, is a full-fledged celebrity. Almost everyone knows her name. She’s won multiple Grammys. She even sang at Aretha Franklin’s funeral. I guess I can understand how Slater fell for her—but that doesn’t excuse his actions. Although in the future Slater, Grande, and Jay may all benefit from the divorce in positive ways, I can’t even imagine how shocked, betrayed, and hurt Jay must have felt when Slater told her the news
However, 8th grade student Mila Boyden feels that people should not give so much of a reaction to celebrities when they divorce. “I feel like [divorce or breaking up] happens all the time, and when celebrities do it, people get really dramatic, but it is really something that a lot of people do, and I feel like just one person shouldn’t be called out about it,” Boyden said.
The foggiest part of this story is whether or not Slater had split from Jay before he started dating Grande. Unfortunately, we live in a world where people cheat on their spouses, and some do so without punishment. But, honestly, this is where I start to feel embarrassed by my relative’s actions. Leaving his wife, and little baby? And if you look at how Grande’s past relationships have ended… Well, Slater’s chances of having a life with Grande are slim.
“They probably began seeing each other before [they both split with their partners]. They probably weren’t in a serious relationship, but I know they did meet before they split with their partners, so maybe they were in a small relationship and they split with their partners because of that,” Boyden said. “I don’t think they split with their partners because of other reasons; I think they split with their partners because they wanted to be together.”
“I never really knew him. I met him very recently. I never had a connection to him before and from what people have told me about him and from meeting him, I was surprised he left his wife,” Yael Goldstein, Slater’s second cousin once removed, said. Goldstein is a 7th grader in Massachusetts.
“I was quite surprised. I was upset for both of them because I think whenever couples separate it's sad to begin with, for them, and for their families,” Jonathan Slater said. “I really have no insight into what happened, I only know that they were working as co-stars on the film version of Wicked, and the work of filming is very intense, very long days, and a lot of time spent together and acting requires really getting to know the other people well. So I imagine that those were some of the things that might have created the conditions that brought them together.”
Ethan Slater has recently joined Spamalot on Broadway as the historian and Herbert. “He’s such a nice guy. I was in New York visiting my grandparents and we saw him in Spamalot and afterward he met up with us and gave us a tour backstage,” Goldstein said. “It was a great show. He’s very talented.”
Then on Jan. 12, Grande released Yes, And? It’s the first single for her upcoming album, Eternal Sunshine. A lyric that probably references to the backlash she has received about her relationship with Slater is, “Your business is your’s and mine is mine/ Why do you care so much whose **** I ride?”
“It seems kind of like a defense. I feel like she’s writing a song to stop calling her out and stop posting rude things about her,” Boyden said.
Kaliyah Smith, a 7th grader, said, “I think it’s mostly about the backlash about how she’s making makeup and how she doesn’t care about it. [The drama with Ethan Slater] probably has something to do with it as well.”
“I know the song has been getting a lot of backlash, but I think the song is great and I actually really like the song. I like the lyrics, I like the beat, I think it all comes together and it makes a good song, and Ariana Grande’s music has always been good and I’m happy she’s making music again,” Smith said.
“[My advice to Ethan] would be to focus on your work and focus on how best to create a mutual and mutually supportive relationship with Lily so that they can truly co-parent their child,” Jonathan Slater said.
In the meantime, I’ll be deciding whether or not to invite this second cousin to my upcoming Bat Mitzvah. Spoiler alert: I don’t think I will. So, Ariana, you are SO not invited to my Bat Mitzvah.
