Danielle Farina 
The Wizard of Oz posits that “there’s no place like home,” and for one main cast member of the movie musical offshoot Wicked, home just might be Hoboken. Over the past year, The Hoboken Girl has received a steady stream of reader tips spotting Ethan Slater in Hoboken + Jersey City. The actor, who plays Boq in the Wicked franchise, has been seen at Jersey City’s Newport Mall, supporting local businesses, and as recently as today, November 24th, strolling down Washington Street. Boq is a divisive character among Wicked fans (as is Ethan Slater and Ariana Grande’s real-life relationship), but in honor of the movie’s release, we’re following the yellow brick road into HoBoqen. Keep reading to learn more about the recent Ethan Slater sightings in Hoboken + Jersey City, New Jersey.
In September 2025, Star reported that Ethan Slater and his ex-wife, Lilly Jay, paid a visit to Jersey City’s Newport Mall for a day of shopping. But this isn’t the first time the actor had been seen around Hudson County. One search through The Hoboken Girl‘s Instagram DMs reveals the actor has been seen routinely since November 2024, right around the time the first Wicked movie premiered.
This June, The Hoboken Girl received word that Ariana Grande, Ethan Slater’s girlfriend of a year (who plays Glinda in Wicked), was spotted presumably leaving the actor’s apartment. Despite the numerous Ethan Slater sightings, this was the only time readers reportedly saw Ariana in town.
Of course, a celebrity taking up residency in Hoboken doesn’t come as much of a shock these days: with all the movies filming here, and the stars that come along with them, our little city is feeling more and more like Hollywood every day. Just this month, Robert Pattinson and Daisy Edgar-Jones were seen outside of Elysian Cafe, shooting their upcoming Netflix movie, Here Comes the Flood. We’ve been keeping a running list of projects filming in Hoboken + Jersey City here.
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