Lilly Jay opens up about the “sudden public demise” of her marriage to Ethan Slater Evil Actor who is currently dating his world-famous co-star Ariana Grande.

In an essay published Thursday in Cut, Jay writes, “No one gets married thinking about getting divorced. But I.” Really I never thought I would get a divorce. Especially not right after the birth of my first child and certainly not in the shadow of my husband’s new relationship with a celebrity.

Jay, a clinical psychologist who specializes in perinatal mental health and child development, and Slater, a Tony-nominated actor known for his title role in SpongeBob SquarePants on Broadway, began dating in college in 2012, having known each other since high school. They married in 2018 and had a son in 2022.

However, in 2023, Slater filed for divorce after there were reports that he and Grande had begun a romantic relationship during filming Evil together. Grande, the actress and chart-topper, had reportedly split from her husband of two years, Dalton Gomez. In conversation with Page six At the time, Jay said: “(Grande is) the story, really. No girl for a girl.” She added: “My family is just collateral damage.”

Grande and Gomez finalized their divorce last March, while Slater and Jay finalized their divorce in September.

Want more movie news? Sign in Entertainment Weekly Free newsletter with the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews and more.

In her essay for the Cut, Jay does not mention Grande or Slater, nor does she express any bitterness toward Grande or Slater. “I have come to believe that without the life I had planned with my high school sweetheart, a life full of sweetness awaits me and my child,” she writes. “While our relationship has changed, our parenting has not. We both love our son 100 percent, regardless of how our parenting time is divided.”

While she shares that “the days with my son are sunny,” she admits that “the days when I can’t escape the publicity of a film associated with the saddest days of my life are darker. “

Representatives for Slater did not immediately respond Weekly entertainmentPlease comment on Jay’s essay. A representative for Grande declined to comment.

Jay also talks about how her personal life has flowed into her work. “As a therapist, one of the things I was able to offer my patients was the experience of being in proportion with someone else, without the complexities of a personal relationship… I was never meant to be fully known to them.” Slater, meanwhile, was “on a different path where social media and notoriety were not obstacles but necessities.”

For Jay, becoming a public figure presented significant challenges. “As someone who has spent years researching how people respond to ambiguity,” she writes, “I hate not knowing whether the way my story was told affected my chance of helping others. to sort through their stories.”

But she remains optimistic, saying: “The advertising I didn’t agree to feels more and more like a challenge.” And an opportunity.” Jay believes her recent romantic and maternal turmoil “may be more of a connecting point than a clinical burden.”