‘Wicked’ Star Ethan Slater’s Ex-Wife Breaks Silence On Divorce

Wicked star Ethan Slater’s ex-wife, Lilly Jay, recently published an essay addressing their divorce.

Slater has been criticized for leaving Jay, his high school sweetheart, and immediately starting a relationship with his “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande. Before now, his ex-wife has not commented on the situation, but her essay does reference the split and how it affected her personally and professionally.

“In the countless hours I spend rocking my son to sleep, pushing his stroller, marveling at his sweaty little hands grasping a crayon, I work diligently on my private project of accepting the sudden public downfall of my marriage,” Jay wrote in an essay headlined, “How Does My Divorce Make You Feel?,” which was published on Thursday. 

“This, I tell myself, is nothing to be ashamed of and nothing to hide. Slowly but surely, I have come to believe that in the absence of the life I planned with my high-school sweetheart, a lifetime of sweetness is waiting for me and my child.”

Jay, who works as a clinical psychologist, said that no couple “gets married thinking they’ll get divorced, in the same way we don’t board a plane expecting to crash. But I really never thought I would get divorced. Especially not just after giving birth to my first child and especially not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.”

“Days with my son are sunny. Days when I can’t escape the promotion of a movie associated with the saddest days of my life are darker,” she wrote about the huge marketing campaign associated with the film “Wicked.”

Jay also mentioned that she and Slater experienced “growing distance” while he was working on the movie.

“As a perinatal psychologist, I knew all the statistics — how vulnerable a marriage is in the postpartum period, how vital community connection is in preventing depression and anxiety, how new parenthood impacts a whole family — but I confidently moved to another country with my 2-month-old baby and my husband to support his career,” she wrote. “Consumed by the magic and mundanity of new motherhood, I didn’t understand the growing distance between us.”

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Ultimately, Jay said she hopes sharing her story will help others.

“Maybe we can think about my messy not-so-personal life in that way: a dose of my own loss, rage, powerlessness, sadness that helps me hold yours,” she wrote. “Knowing what you now know, I can say with both personal and professional authority, you are so much stronger than you assume. Some of what you loved most about your partner was actually your own goodness reflected back to you; it’s yours to keep and carry forward.”

Grande separated from then-husband Dalton Gomez in July 2023 after two years of marriage. Slater and Jay broke up that same month. 

The singer seemingly addressed the backlash with the release of her single “Yes, And?” in January, which included the line, “Your business is yours and mine is mine / Why do you care so much whose — I ride?”