Wicked stars Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater have maintained a lot of privacy since they each ended their respective marriages and started dating in 2023. It was somewhat surprising when they shared photos of the Christmas they spent together, but there’s still one aspect of Slater’s life that he insists on staying mum about, as the actor recently explained why he avoids telling stories about his son publicly.
Before meeting Ariana Grande on the set of Wicked, Ethan Slater was married to his high school sweetheart, Lilly Jay, and the two had a child in August 2022. While Jay didn’t mince words regarding how she felt about her marriage ending when their son was so young, Slater has largely refrained from discussing his personal life, particularly the now-3-year-old they share. During a conversation on the Downside with Gianmarco Soresi podcast, he gave some insight into why that is, saying:
I try not to tell stories about my son, because I want to let him meet the world and let the world meet him on his own terms. So I don't tell stories or anecdotes.
That’s certainly understandable for someone in the public eye, especially amidst the Broadway veteran’s relationship with Ariana Grande.
The topic of his son came up when Wicked’s Boq portrayer was discussing his faith with the podcasters and spoke about lighting the menorah with his son. Ethan Slater didn’t go into detail, but he did mention that he’s grateful to have shared that with his child and that it’s been a “really interesting experience” to talk to him about what it means to be Jewish.
Ethan Slater’s efforts to protect his son’s privacy aren’t all that rare amongst celebrities these days. In the same way that couples like Katherine Schwarzenegger and Chris Pratt don’t show their children’s faces on social media, the Spamalot actor has not publicly released his son’s name.
Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds kept their third daughter’s name a secret until Taylor Swift revealed it on “Betty,” a track on her Folklore album. Khloé Kardashian made fans wait a full year before revealing her son Tatum’s name on her family’s reality show, and Adam Levine also has refrained from letting the public know the name of his and Behati Prinsloo’s third child, a son, who will turn 3 at the end of January. (That one is very understandable, given how the baby’s name was actually a factor in Levine's sexting scandal.)
Kourtney Kardashian and Travis Barker have refused to show son Rocky’s face, despite the toddler appearing on The Kardashians. And while Kristen Bell and Dax Shepard — unlike Ethan Slater — have no problem sharing stories about their daughters (like how they’ve ordered nonalcoholic beer at restaurants), they also have never shown Lincoln and Delta’s faces.
I can understand why the Wicked actor would want to protect his young son, especially since Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande have faced some backlash for their relationship, and that makes it all the more special that he gave us a tiny peek at the meaningful moment they shared over the holidays.
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