Ethan Slater responds to rumors about Ariana Grande’s song about him

Ethan Slater has kept his romance with Ariana Grande largely private, but he took a moment to gently answer the “Yes, so what?” superstar in his recent cover story with GQ.

At one point in the interview, Slater responded to rumors that Grande’s Eternal sunshine track, “Imperfect for You” is about him. “Messy, completely upset/ But I haven’t been like this since I met you/ Imperfect for you,” she sings on the swoon-worthy track. “She’s such a great artist, and I think everyone knows how good of an artist she is and everything, but I’m really impressed with the songwriting,” he says, addressing some of the speculation by adding: ‘I love that song.”

“It was obviously a very big year, and I think there was something very difficult about having things in your private life being commented on and viewed by the public,” he said of the reaction he and Grande both received when the news of their relationship failed. In July 2023, Slater reportedly filed for divorce from his longtime partner Lilly Jay, with whom he shares a son. Meanwhile, Grande recently split from her now ex-husband Dalton Gomez. “There were a lot of big changes in private lives that actually happened, so it’s very difficult to have people who don’t know anything about what’s happening comment and speculate and then get things wrong about the people you love. So to address that part of it, it feels very difficult.

He continued, “But obviously it’s been a great year and a really beautiful thing, and I’m just really excited. I’m just very proud of Ari and the work she has done (Bad). She threw herself into it. I’m very proud that I got to be there for that part of it, and I’m very excited to be there for this next step, when the world gets to see what an amazing thing she’s done.

The duo will both star in the upcoming film adaptation of the iconic Broadway musical, Badin which Grande plays Glinda the Good Witch and Slater plays Boq. “My unbiased opinion is that she is one of the best comedians to appear in a movie in a long time. She’s a genius,” Slater said of Grande.