Ethan Slater opens up on Ariana Grande, rumors surrounding their relationship, and whether 'Imperfect for you' refers to him

Ethan Slater recently spoke with the media about his connection with Ariana Grande following rumors, sharing his side of their relationship. Slater is the guy who plays SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway; he met Grande while they were working on the musical 'Wicked' with him playing Boq, and Grande playing Glinda. They started when filming began, but a string of public breakups may have made their love a subject of gossip.
Slater was still married to Lilly Jay, who he had been with for nearly a decade and with whom he had been married for four years at the time of their meeting. Grande had recently separated from her husband, Dalton Gomez, earlier in 2023. The speculation on the origin of their relationship heightens after news broke about Slater and Jay splitting, and Slater is now reported to be dating Grande.
In an interview with 'GQ', Slater revealed the timeline and nature of his relationship with Grande, dispelling rumors and filling in the gaps of his side of the story. He explained that public interest in personal matters had made something private into public speculation. Most of what people assumed about them was based on incomplete information; however, he did not go into specifics about breaking up with Jay, keeping those details private.
Slater also tackled interest in his connection to a new Grande song "Imperfect For You," amid speculation over whether it may be written about him, but Slater refused to acknowledge or reject any direct correlation between his relationship and the song itself.
Overall, the actor seemed to aim at stating his feelings toward Grande while not putting much emphasis on the past and avoiding straight talk about his former wife. By talking about a few of the rumors circulating, Slater was trying to clarify some things but letting everyone know he wants time to himself away from this interest in his friendship with Grande.