Rumours that Ariana Grande is involved with her co-star have hit her hard. But accusing women of breaking up a home only benefits men, argues Georgia Aspinall
THERE ARE FEW LABELS that can ruin a woman’s reputation more than being called a ‘homewrecker’. Just ask Angelina Jolie, Monica Lewinsky, and Camilla Parker Bowles. Whether you loathe their actions or not, these are all women who, at one time or another, were notorious for their relationships with married men. And, despite them forging incredible careers in philanthropy or activism, they continue to be defined by those relationships years later. Ariana Grande appears to be the latest such victim, accused of wrecking the home of her Wicked co-star Ethan Slater and soon-to-be ex-wife Lilly Jay. Slater and Jay had been married for four years, and have an 11-month-old son, when Slater filed for divorce on 26 July, just days after rumours of a relationship between him and Grande first broke. Grande’s own divorce, after two years of marriage to estate agent Dalton Gomez, was confirmed after she was spotted without her wedding ring at Wimbledon last month.
Was there any actual crossover? Not according to Page Six, who, in an exclusive interview with Jay reported that the pair had actually been separated for two months before Grande and Slater began dating. Tabloids also report that Grande has been separated from Gomez since January.
But that hasn’t stopped keyboard warriers on social media dubbing Grande a ‘serial homewrecker’. They point to her hit single, Break Up With Your Girlfriend, I’m Bored as so-called evidence, also noting that the now deceased Glee actor Naya Rivera accused rapper Big Sean of cheating with Grande in her biography Sorry Not Sorry, when they were engaged back in 2014 – allegations Sean denies.
Countless people have made videos about Grande’s reputation on TikTok. They’ve unearthed old scandals like the 2015 doughnut incident, where she was seen on CCTV licking a doughnut in a shop (she released an apolog y on Twitter), and used them as justification for why they’ve ‘never really liked her’.
