Thursday afternoon, People Magazine had yet another exclusive about Ariana Grande and her new boyfriend Ethan Slater. They met when both of them were married to other people, and Ethan’s wife Lilly Jay welcomed their first child just last year. It’s as messy as can be, made messier by two simple facts: Ariana is using her A-lister PR team to steamroll her way into whitewashing her sloppy behavior AND Lilly Jay is not going quietly. “Sources close to Lilly Jay” have been battling it out with “sources close to Ariana Grande” for the past week and it’s been fascinating to watch from a gossip perspective. Anyway, People’s exclusive was another Team Grande piece about how it was “obvious” that Ari and Ethan were “forming a close connection” on the set of Wicked: “They were very sweet to each other and often seen laughing together… Everyone just thought they were both happily married though and didn’t expect them to end up dating.” The source says they’re now “full-on dating.” Barf. Within hours, Lilly Jay spoke on the record to Page Six:

Lilly Jay says her family is “collateral damage” as news broke of her estranged husband Ethan Slater’s budding romance with his “Wicked” co-star Ariana Grande.

“[Ariana’s] the story really. Not a girl’s girl,” Jay exclusively tells Page Six. “My family is just collateral damage.”

The musician, who shares one son with the “SpongeBob SquarePants: The Broadway Musical” star, says she’s focusing on raising her and Slater’s baby and being “a good mom.”

“The story is her and Dalton,” Jay adds, referencing Grande’s split from her husband, Dalton Gomez, to whom she had been married for two years.

However, sources tell Page Six that Jay has been “calling every news outlet to get this story out” while acting differently toward Slater behind the scenes.

“She’s telling Ethan and others that she only cares about protecting their child,” our source shares. “She’s rightfully upset because her marriage fell apart, but Ariana and Ethan didn’t do anything wrong,” our insider adds, telling us that Slater had been separated from Jay for two months before romancing Grande.

“Ethan is trying to take the high road and hopes he can resolve this situation for the sake of their child.”

[From Page Six]

Those quotes in the second half are from Ariana throwing a tantrum about how Lilly won’t just shut up. Lilly has been “calling every news outlet to get this story out” – yeah, that’s what wronged women do, that’s what many women would do if their husband dumped them for a married costar. “But Ariana and Ethan didn’t do anything wrong” – they truly cheated on their spouses for what will be a six-month relationship at most. Those “sources” keep insisting that Slater left Lilly two months ago when Lilly is making sure everyone knows that she was blindsided by all of this and Ariana’s actions are the real story. Shades of LeAnn Rimes-Eddie Cibrian, huh?

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, Cover Images.