In the latest fallout from Ariana Grande’s shock romance with her married “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater, sources close to the Broadway actor have suggested that his soon-to-be-ex-wife Lilly Jay regrets making angry comments about the pop star and about her role in the end of her seemingly happy marriage.
Of course, some would say that Jay has every right to be distressed and angry about the situation, including the possibility that Slater cheated on her with a globally famous pop star. But Jay has supposedly assured her estranged husband that she hasn’t been leaking comments to TMZ and to other outlets about how she’s “devastated that her family’s been torn apart” or that she feels the actor has “abandoned his family,” TMZ reported, citing sources close to Slater.
The mother of an 11-month-old son, however, acknowledged talking to Page Six, these sources told TMZ. In that interview, she told the gossip column that Grande is “not a girl’s girl” and described her family as “collateral damage.” But Jay supposedly told Slater that she didn’t know “what it meant to be on the record when she made those comments,” the sources said.
Of course, it’s interesting that Slater appears to be concerned about his wife leaking to the media, because it appears he’s having his “sources” leak to TMZ about his wife’s dealings with the media. These Slater sources also seem to be trying to put a positive spin on his actions in the wake of the breakup. They told TMZ that the actor “desperately” wants to be involved in caring for his son and wants to work out an arrangement with her to co-parent.
These sources told TMZ that Slater has been in regular, daily contact with Jay, who is on board with a co-parenting arrangement. She’s only wanted to wait a bit before she and Slater issue a joint statement, saying that they were committed to co-parenting their son, the sources say.
News broke earlier this week that Slater, who had been best known as the star of Broadway’s “SpongeBob SquarePants,” had filed for divorce from Jay, his high school sweetheart, after four years of marriage and 10 years of being together. This news follows the stunning revelation that Slater, 31, had begun a romance with Grande, 30, while the two were working together in London on a film adaptation of the Broadway show “Wicked.” Grande, in turn, had reportedly separated from her real estate agent husband, Dalton Gomez, back in January.
Over the past week, there have been conflicting reports about the whole saga, notably on when Grande and Slater’s relationship turned from professional to personal. People speaking on behalf of Grande and Slater have tried to put forward the narrative that they only began dating after each had officially separated from their respective spouses.
But that narrative has been challenged by multiple reports that suggest that the romance has been brewing for months and that Slater cheated on his wife. The Daily Mail reported Thursday that Jay learned that her husband and Grande were having “an affair” after she took her son, then 8 months, with her for a visit to London in April. During that visit, Jay spent time with her husband and Grande “many times,” an insider told the Daily Mail.
“Ariana met their baby and even held him,” the insider said. “They had dinners together in London, and Ariana told Lilly that she wanted to have a baby one day and that she couldn’t wait to start a family.”
After Jay learned about the affair, she confronted Slater, and the two agreed to work on their marriage, the Daily Mail said. Jay understood that her husband, an up-and-coming Broadway performer, was “starstruck” by Grande and bowled over by the glamour of being on a movie set with major stars for the very first time, the Daily Mail also said.
“He was starstruck, he was a new dad in a new country who had never been on a major movie set before,” the sources told the Daily Mail.But Jay learned at some point that Slater had continued his romance with the singer, the Daily Mail said.
Earlier this week, Us Weekly reported that Grande and Slater “connected” on the set and didn’t hide their feelings for each other. Us Weekly also reported that Jay was in the dark about her marriage being in trouble. A source told Us Weekly that Jay only learned that Slater wanted a divorce just before news broke about his relationship with Grande.
“Ethan sat Lilly down a few days before the news broke about him and Ariana and said that he wanted a divorce,” the source revealed. “Lilly never saw it coming!”
Back in November, Slater paid tribute to Jay on their fourth wedding anniversary, with an Instagram post that read: “My best friend. 4 years married, 10 years together. And this is easily the best (and most *bizarre*) year yet.”
