The couple made headlines when the relationship was made public a few days after reports of Ariana’s divorce from ex Dalton Gomez in July 2023. A few days after that, it was reported that Ethan had filed for divorce from his high school sweetheart Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a toddler.
Last month, Ariana appeared to deny any infidelity speculation, telling Vanity Fair, “There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him.”
Now, Ethan is breaking his silence. In a new interview with GQ, the actor was asked what it was like falling in “love” on the set of Wicked. “That’s really nice of you to ask. That’s a really sweet question,” he replied.
“Obviously, it was a really super big year,” he continued, “and I think there was something that was really difficult about things in your private life being commented on and looked at by the public. 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. So just to address that part of it, that feels really hard.”
He added, “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. 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.”
When asked if the song “Imperfect For You” was about him, he praised Ariana as an “amazing performer” instead. “I’m just really blown away by the songwriting,” he explained. “I love that song.”
Of his rising profile, he noted that the “hard parts” include the “personal-life stuff.” The 32-year-old said, “I am really focused on the real people in my life, who those things affect, and doing right by every real person and not the Twitter people who comment on it.”
He further described being a parent as “the best thing in the world,” continuing, “It’s been an interesting thing to navigate as a new parent. There’s nothing I want to do more than just show you pictures and talk about him because he’s the best and the light of my life. But I also want to give him the opportunity to meet the world on his own terms…to meet the world in an analog way and not through my words.”
You can read the full interview here.