Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater are Instagram official

Although it hasn’t always been popular with the public, Ariana Grande’s relationship with her “Wicked” co-star Ethan Slater is now Instagram official.

The “Eternal Sunshine” singer celebrated the upcoming release of the Jon M. Chu-directed movie musical with a carousel of photos from the Australian premiere. Among them is a candid shot of Slater – who plays Boq, from Munchkinland – wearing the train of Grande’s Glinda-inspired Vivienne Westwood dress as she walks down the stairs at the Sydney State Theater. (Slater shared the same photo on his account.)

Slater’s performance in Sunday’s Red premiere (yellow) carpet then also flew across social media a fan filmed the Tony Award nominee accept a friendship bracelet on behalf of Grande.

“Is it possible for you to give this to Ari for me?” the fan asks in the video, to which Slater responds, “I’m pretty sure she’ll come if you want (to give it to her), but I can.” He also reassured the fan, saying, “I’m sure she’ll love it.”

Footage of the interaction went viral shortly afterwards reshared by a “Wicked” fan accountwhose owner wrote: ‘Ethan Slater seems like the kindest and most genuine person. The world owes him an apology.”

Slater and Grande, who met on the set of ‘Wicked,’ came under scrutiny when they first sparked dating rumors in 2023 — following their respective (and highly publicized) splits from previous partners. At the time of the concurrent divorce applicationsSlater’s ex-wife, singer Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a two-year-old son, said Page six“My family is collateral damage.”

The pair have since kept mum about their romance. But that changed in September, when Grande addressed the media furore surrounding her relationship with Slater in a speech Vanity fair cover story.

While she declined to go into “certain details,” the Grammy-winning singer said, “It definitely doesn’t get any easier when you see some of the negativity that has been spawned by infamous tabloids.”

She continued to say that, like many other members of the “Wicked” cast, she “went through a lot of life changes during the filming of this movie.”

“The most disappointing thing,” Grande said, “was that so many people believed the worst version of it. …There can be no less accurate portrayal of a human being than that which the tabloids spread (Slater). No one on this earth goes out of their way or goes out of their way to be there for the people they love and care about.”

Slater echoed Grande’s comments in his Oct GQ cover story, which stated that the recoil was difficult to control.

“There were a lot of big changes in private life that were actually happening,” he said, “so it’s really hard to get people who don’t know anything about what’s happening to comment on it and speculate, and then get things wrong about the events. people you love.”

“But of course,” he admitted, “it’s been a great year and a really beautiful thing, and I’m just really excited.”

Slater added that he is “really, really proud of Ari and the work she did” on “Wicked.”

“She has thrown herself into it,” he said, “and I am very excited to be there for this next step, when the world gets to see what an amazing thing she has done.”

The Journey Through Oz press tour continues to four more cities around the world, with stops planned in Los Angeles, Mexico City, New York and London before “Wicked” opens in U.S. theaters on November 22.

And when the credits roll, Grande will be credited by her full name, Ariana Grande-Butera — which incorporates the last names of her mother, Joan Grande, and her father, Edward Butera.

“Technically it’s little Ari’s name,” she said, explaining the decision in a recent interview with Australian radio station Range 104.7 Canberra. “I feel like I’ve come home to myself in a lot of ways through what I learned from Glinda, from Elphaba, and you know, that was my name when I went on the show when I was 10 years old – and it felt as if A very nice way to honor that.”