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Thank you, next!
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have broken up.
They put out two box office hit musicals and weathered the public downfall of his former marriage together.
Now, it’s over. How did it end?
It’s over!
TMZ reports that Ariana Grande and her silly little Spongebob have parted ways.
Well, they didn’t use that semi-affectionate nickname for Ethan Slater, but you get the idea.
According to their sources, the two actually very quietly broke up several months ago.
This would be some time after Ethan and Ariana celebrated the holidays together, but still early this year.
Without knowing the precise date, that’s about as specific as we can get.
According to TMZ‘s sources, the split was an amicable one.
That doesn’t just mean that it wasn’t publicly messy — otherwise, we’d have known when it happened.
Ariana and Ethan are reportedly still friends. They’re even said to be very supportive of each other.
The report says that they gave careful consideration to the idea of splitting before concluding that it was time to break up.
That sounds very thoughtful and mature! Good for them.
Will she be singing about this split?
These days, it is a common joke to say that relationships and especially breakups inspire art, especially for singers.
But though some of Ariana’s hits have been relationship-inspired (she does, after all, have a song titled “Pete Davidson”), she has a different vibe than, say, Taylor Swift.
TMZ specifies that her new album was not inspired by this split in the slightest.
And her music isn’t inspired by Ethan — romantically, professionally, or otherwise.
Whether that’s a nod to her professionalism or an indictment of him as a partner is a matter of some debate.
In July of 2023, the world first learned of Ariana and Ethan’s entanglement.
This relationship news broke at almost exactly the same time as Ethan separated from his erstwhile spouse, Lilly Jay.
(Yes, the two had also recently welcomed a baby.)
Though there is no actual evidence that anything began before the end of his marriage, the timing made things controversial.
Ariana’s new album, “Petal,” releases on July 31. We’re excited for it. But don’t expect it to dish on her breakup or whatever. She wants her music to stand on its own merits.