Ariana Grande gave fans a tiny lyric change, and the timing made it impossible to ignore.
Just days before reports surfaced that Grande and ‘Wicked’ co-star Ethan Slater had split, the Grammy winner changed part of ‘Thank U, Next’ during the opening night of her ‘Eternal Sunshine Tour’ in Oakland, California, on June 6.
The moment happened during the bridge of the song, where Grande usually sings about one day walking down the aisle and thanking her parents for what she learned from their past.
Ariana Grande Changes ‘Thank U, Next’ Lyrics
In the original version, Grande sings, “One day I’ll walk down the aisle holding hands with my mama / I’ll be thanking my dad, ’cause she grew from the drama.”
During the tour opener, she adjusted the final line to, “We all grew from the drama.”
The tweak seemed to reference her parents, Joan Grande and Ed Butera, who divorced in 2002 but later repaired their relationship.
Then came the part fans really noticed. Grande skipped the next line about wanting marriage to last only once, held up two fingers and laughed.
Given her own relationship history, the look said plenty.
Ethan Slater Split News Followed Days Later
Grande, 32, married Dalton Gomez in May 2021 during a private ceremony at her Montecito, California, home. Their split became public in July 2023, and their divorce was finalized later that year.
After that breakup, Grande began dating Slater after the two met while filming ‘Wicked.’ On June 8, a source said the pair had quietly broken up after nearly three years together.
Their romance drew major public scrutiny from the beginning because both stars were coming out of marriages at the time. Slater finalized his divorce from Lilly Jay in 2024. They share a son.
Grande Previously Defended Slater
Before the split, Grande had pushed back against the tabloid coverage surrounding Slater.
“It definitely doesn’t get any easier, seeing some of the negativity that was birthed by disreputable tabloids,” Grande told Vanity Fair in 2024.
She also defended Slater’s character directly.
“There couldn’t be a less accurate depiction of a human being than the one that the tabloids spread about him,” she said.
Grande added that no one tries harder to show up for the people he loves.
Now, fans are reading her ‘Thank U, Next’ change as a small but telling update. It was not a dramatic speech. It was just a skipped line, two fingers and a laugh.
For Grande, that may have been enough.
