There seems to have been some confusion as to which patty-flipping yellow sponge has reportedly stolen Ariana Grande’s heart — and now the record has been set straight.
For context, the “7 Rings” singer is reportedly dating Ethan Slater, who starred as SpongeBob in Broadway’s The SpongeBob Musical: Live on Stage. Ari is not dating Tom Kenny, who voiced SpongeBob in the iconic Nickelodeon show.
Kenny’s wife, Jill Talley, clarified that she’s still very much married to the voice actor under an Instagram post about Grande’s alleged new relationship posted by The Cut. “Hi everyone, I’m married to Tom Kenny (who voices SpongeBob on the TV show),” she wrote. “He is not dating Ariana Grande. I don’t know if Ethan Slater (who played SpongeBob in the musical) is or isn’t dating Ariana Grande. However, they’re both adorable and I totally ship it. Just wanted to set the record straight. P.S. as for me and Tom Kenny — we are celebrating our 27th wedding anniversary today.”
Both TMZ and People report that Slater and Grande started dating after both of their relationships were over. Slater is separated from singer Lilly Jay; the two celebrated their four-year wedding anniversary in November 2022. Grande married Dalton Gomez two years ago, but the two separated.
Grande plays Glinda opposite Cynthia Erivo’s Elphaba in Jon M. Chu’s upcoming live-action film adaptation of the Broadway show Wicked, which will be split into two parts. In the film, Slater is playing Boq, a munchkin boy who, fittingly, has a crush on Glinda.
This story originally appeared on Billboard
