Wicked star Ariana Grande’s partner Ethan Slater did not appear in a gay adult film, the internet is just intent on leading you to believe so.

A renewed bout of misinformation online, a rumour dating back to 2017, is claiming that Slater starred in gay adult movies.

Slater, known for playing the character SpongeBob SquarePants in the 2016 musical of the same name, for which he received a Tony nomination, shot to wider fame after starring in Wicked and the newly-released Wicked: For Good.

The clip featuring Slater, which is circulating on X, shows him shirtless, with his muscular arms behind his head. He shoots a sultry look at his co-star before wrestling him to the ground.

The logo of a popular adult site is shown in the corner.

“Is this real?” one person commented under a now-deleted clip of the footage.

But the footage, as with a lot that is present on the internet, is missing integral context.

The video is actually from a 2017 short film called FunEmployment, and has no connection to any adult site – the logo has just been added on.

In the film Ethan plays a character referred to as “Isaac’s roommate”.

“A manny/aspiring comedian gets his a** kicked (literally and figuratively) but has fun anyway,” the movie’s plot on IMDb reads.

Wicked protagonists Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande have also been at the centre of an online rumour recently. A post, which originated on Facebook, claims that the pair are in a “semi-binary” relationship. But, it’s fake news, circulated by a Facebook account that acknowledges its content is purely satirical