Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for National Board of Review
Ariana Grande is floating on air after scoring her first-ever Oscar nomination, and boyfriend Ethan Slater was quick to celebrate her supporting actress nod.
“Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you so much to @theacademy for this unfathomable recognition,” she wrote via Instagram after nominations for the 2025 Academy Awards were announced on Thursday, January 23. “I cannot stop crying, to no one’s surprise. i’m humbled and deeply honored to be in such brilliant company and sharing this with tiny ari who sat and studied Judy Garland singing Somewhere Over the Rainbow just before the big, beautiful bubble entered. i’m so proud of you, tiny.”
Grande, 31, scored a Best Actress in a Supporting Role nomination for her role as Glinda in Wicked. Joining her in the category are A Complete Unknown’s Monica Barbaro, The Brutalist’s Felicity Jones, Conclave’s Isabella Rossellini and Emilia Pérez’s Zoe Saldaña.
In addition to thanking the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for the recognition, Grande went on to shout out Wicked’s director, Jon M. Chu. “Thank you @jonmchu for taking this chance on me and for being the most unbelievably brilliant leader, human being, and most fierce friend. i am so deeply proud of my beautiful Wicked family,” she wrote.
Ariana Grande and Ethan Slater’s romance isn’t defying gravity, but it has turned heads from the start. Us Weekly confirmed in July 2023 that Wicked costars Grande and Slater were in a “fairly new” relationship following their respective breakups. News broke that same month that Grande and Dalton Gomez called it quits after two years […]
Grande also thanked “my Elphie,” Cynthia Erivo, who was nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role. “Your brilliance is never ending [sic] and you deserve every flower (tulip) in every garden. i love you unconditionally, always,” she gushed. “I don’t quite have all my words yet, i’m still trying to breathe. but thank you. oh my goodness, thank you. Universal, Marc [Platt], my family, my heart. lemons and melons and pears, oh my.”
Grande’s reaction post featured photos of herself as Glinda, a childhood photo of herself dressed as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz and a throwback clip of her younger self performing Elphaba’s song “The Wizard and I.”
Cynthia Erivo is Elphaba and Ariana Grande is Glinda in. ‘Wicked’. Giles Keyte/Universal Pictures
Slater, Grande’s boyfriend and costar, also took to Instagram to celebrate her Oscar nod, sharing a photo of Grande standing on a window sill holding pink balloons. He also shared several nomination announcement posts via his Instagram Story, one of which he captioned, “Oscar. Nominated. @arianagrande.”
Grande met Slater, who plays Boq, while filming the two-part movie musical adaptation in 2022. The two began dating following their 2023 splits from their former spouses Dalton Gomez and Lilly Jay.
Ethan Slater had nothing but praise for his girlfriend, Ariana Grande, while discussing her turn as Galinda in the upcoming film adaptation of Wicked. “She’s a comedy genius,” Slater, 32, said of Grande, 31, during an interview on the Monday, November 4, episode of The Jennifer Hudson Show. “She’s so funny. I mean, she’s amazing […]
Wicked earned a total of 10 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling, Best Original Score, Best Production Design, Best Film Editing, Best Sound and Best Visual Effects. The film is tied with The Brutalist for the second most nominations, following behind Emilia Pérez with 13.
Ethan Slater, Jeff Goldblum, Marissa Bode,Cynthia Erivo, Ariana Grande, Jonathan Bailey and Bronwyn James arrives at the Los Angeles Premiere Of Universal Pictures “Wicked” at Dorothy Chandler Pavilion on November 09, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. Steve Granitz/FilmMagic
Despite not snagging a nomination for Best Director, Chu, 45, shared his reaction to Wicked’s Oscar nods via his Instagram Story on Thursday. “When it’s 5:30 a.m. and your movie gets 10 Academy Award nominations 🥹,” he captioned a selfie with his hand over his mouth.
In a follow-up post, he added: “It’s way too early, I had way too much coffee. But also I was really happy for our movie. Couldn’t be more proud of our crew and cast and everyone in between who made this movie possible. The greatest adventure of creativity I have ever been a part of.”
The 97th annual Oscars will air on ABC Sunday, March 2, at 7 p.m. ET.