Ethan Slater Calls Ariana Grande “Hilarious” & “Amazing”

Ariana Grande has got a fan in Ethan Slater. During a Nov. 4 episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show, Slater opened up about his girlfriend’s acting chops in Wicked, and it sounds like he was impressed by Grande every step of the way.

Slater and Grande got together while working on Wicked, and romance rumors surrounding the couple began in July 2023. Though they’ve kept their relationship private for the most part, they have started to speak about each other during the press tour for Wicked, which hits theaters on Nov. 22. “She’s a comedy genius,” Slater said about Grande during his appearance on The Jennifer Hudson Show. “She’s so funny. I mean, she’s amazing in this film.”

Slater didn’t only give compliments to Grande, though. “Everyone’s amazing in this film,” he added. “Cynthia and Ari bring depth to these roles that you can find on stage — the women who have played these roles on stage are incredible — but when you’re doing a film, you’re so close.”

“The difference between when you’re doing a role on stage and on film and you’ve just got to think those thoughts,” Slater continued, referring to how a camera can capture facial expressions audiences don’t see in stage productions. “They were so beautiful and nuanced and unbelievable. And Ari’s hilarious. I can’t wait for people to see the takes that didn’t make it in.”

This isn’t the first time that Slater has opened up about Grande’s comedic talent. “My unbiased opinion is that she’s one of the best comedians that’s been in a movie in a long time. She’s a genius,” he said during an Oct. 30 interview with GQ.

During the GQ interview, Slater was also asked about falling in love on set — and the public scrutiny that came with it. (Grande and Slater were both married when they began working on Wicked, and denied the affair allegations that followed them after they went public.) “I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public,” he said at the time.

“There were a lot of big changes in private lives that were really happening, so it’s really hard to see people who don’t know anything about what’s happening commenting on it and speculating, and then getting things wrong about the people you love,” Slater added. “So just to address that part of it, that feels really hard.”

Slater then redirected the focus to Grande’s talent. “But, of course, it was an amazing year and a really beautiful thing, and I’m just really excited. I’m just really, really proud of Ari and the work she’s done on this,” he told GQ. “She’s poured herself into it. I’m really proud that I got to be there for that part of it, and I’m really excited to be there for this next step of it when the world gets to see the amazing thing that she did.”

Slater also talked about Grande during interactions with fans at the Wicked premiere in Sydney, Australia on Nov. 3. When a fan asked him to pass along a friendship bracelet for Grande, Slater assured her that he would. “I'm pretty sure she's coming if you want [to give it to her yourself], but I can do that! Do you want me to? Sure! Yeah, of course. I'm sure she'll love it,” he said in a video posted to X, formerly called Twitter.