- Ariana Grande has been nominated for her first Oscar
- The actor snapped up the Best Supporting Actress nod for her role as Glinda in Wicked
- Grande’s boyfriend and co-star Ethan Slater proved he is the pop star’s biggest fan, as he took to social media to show his support
Ariana Grande picked up her first Oscar nomination on Thursday, January 23.
The actor, 31, is up for the Best Supporting Actress gong at the ceremony – which will take place Sunday, March 2 – for her role as Glinda in Wicked.
And as Grande – who was in London and fresh out of the bathtub when she heard her name being read out by friend and co-star Bowen Yang – celebrated her success, her boyfriend Ethan Slater also showed his support.
Slater and Grande met on the set of the Jon M. Chu-directed movie-musical, with his character Boq being – aptly – hopelessly in love with Glinda.
While the couple are usually very private with their romance, Slater, 32, couldn’t help but share his appreciation for his talented girlfriend via social media.
Posting to his Instagram story, the actor shared a photo of Grande in Ginda’s statement pink hat, and simply wrote, “Oscar. Nominated.”
He followed up by posting lots of celebratory stories, including a repost of Grande’s Instagram statement (more on that soon), a screenshot of the Best Supporting Actress nominees line-up, and an adorable photograph of his partner and her co-star, Cynthia Erivo, together on set.
But Slater wasn’t done there – as he went on to share a permanent post to his Insta grid, showing Grande standing at a window with a bouquet of pink balloons. While he didn’t caption the post, Grande later reshared it to her own page, and tagged him in it.
Celebrity fans congratulate Ariana Grande
Other stars also rushed to praise Grande for her first nomination.
Reacting to the news live on CBS, Michelle Yeoh – who plays Shiz headmistress Madame Morrible in Wicked – let out a “woo!” of excitement when she heard Grande’s name called.
Sarah Paulson took to her Instagram story to celebrate the news. “So happy for you Ariana Grande,” the American Horror Story star wrote.
And Grande’s friend and collaborator Jennifer Coolidge also shared her excitement on social media.
“When I was watching Wicked for the first time, I knew a million great things were going to happen for Ariana Grande because of her performance… and here’s one of them,” Coolidge – who stars in Grande’s Thank U, Next music video – wrote.
“Congratulations Ari – and a massive congrats to Cynthia Erivo and the rest of the Wicked family for the 10 nominations!”
Ariana Grande takes to Instagram to say ‘thank you’
While Grande later shared her excitement with Variety – revealing that she had just taken a bath when she got the news, and having to call the outlet back to accept a congratulatory phone call from her therapist – she also said a few words via her Instagram page.
“Picking my head up in between sobs to say thank you so much to @theacademy for this unfathomable recognition,” she said, before poking fun at herself and the emotional Wicked press tour by adding, “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,” Grande continued. “I’m so proud of you, tiny.
“Thank you again, from the bottom of my heart, for this acknowledgement @theacademy.”
Grande went on to express her gratitude to Chu – who missed out on a Best Director nomination – and Erivo, who also received a nod in the Best Actress category.
“Thank you @jonmchu for taking this chance on me and for being the most unbelievably brilliant leader, human being, and most fierce friend,” Grande went on. “I am so deeply proud of my beautiful Wicked family. I am so proud of my Elphie, my sister, my dear @cynthiaerivo. Your brilliance is never ending and you deserve every flower (tulip) in every garden. I love you unconditionally, always.”
Grande added, “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, my family, my heart.”
