Ethan Slater Shares Rare Intimate Photo of Ariana Grande Celebrating Her Oscar Nomination

Ethan Slater is showing his love for girlfriend Ariana Grande by sharing a new picture of her.

Taking to his Instagram account on Jan. 23, Slater shared a picture of Grande. The photo shows Grande from behind as she stares out into the city of London while near a balcony in a long, white shirt.

Also pictured in the photo are pink balloons that Grande seems to be holding, a possible reference to the pink her character Glinda in the Wicked movie is known to wear. Slater did not caption the picture, but he did tag the Academy as well as Grande and the official Instagram page for the Wicked movie.

Earlier on Jan. 23, Grande posted a lengthy statement to her Instagram account reflecting on her first Oscar nomination.

"I cannot stop crying, to no one's surprise. 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. i'm so proud of you, tiny. Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for this acknowledgement @theacademy," the post said.

"I don't quite have all my words yet, I'm still trying to breathe. but thank you. Oh my goodness, thank you. Universal, Marc, my family, my heart. Lemons and melons and pears, oh my," her post concluded.

Grande and Slater were a part of the stacked cast for the movie Wicked. The movie itself scored 10 nominations across various categories including Best Picture and Best Actress for Grande's co-star Cynthia Erivo. Both Erivo and Grande have been nominated at various other award shows leading up to the announcement of the Oscar nominations.

Grande and Slater met on the set of the movie. Their relationship was questioned and scrutinized due to the timing of Slater filing for divorce from his now ex-wife, Lilly Jay, whom he also shares a young son with. Slater's ex opened up about the end of their marriage in an essay.

"Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child. While our partnership has changed, our parenthood has not. Both of us fiercely love our son 100 percent of the time, regardless of how our parenting time is divided," she shared with The Cut.

"Days with my son are sunny. Days when I can't escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker," Jay added.

Grande addressed the controversial relationship herself, saying: "The most disappointing part was to see so many people believe the worst version of it. That was definitely a tough ride," according to Cosmopolitan.

Slater chimed in with his own interview, sharing that the public was "getting things wrong about the people you love" and that addressing the situation was "hard."

Tags

Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater, Wicked, Oscars