The Boy in Ariana Grande’s ‘The Boy Is Mine’ Video Is Hers — But Is He Also Penn Badgley?

The stars seem to be aligning, not in the cosmos, but in the promotional campaign for Ariana Grande ‘s latest album Eternal Sunshine . Last week, the musician announced “The Boy Is Mine” as the third single from the project and set June 3 as the release date for its official music video. In the lead up, Grande has mostly kept details about the Christian Breslauer-directed visual under wraps, while also hinting that not only is the boy hers, he might also be Penn Badgley.

On Saturday, the podcast PodCrushed, on which Badgley is a co-host, shared an Instagram Reel and TikTok addressing the rumors buzzing around on the internet. “Not the whole internet showing up to ask us if Penn is in The Boy Is Mine MV,” the post read, with the caption adding: “The Boy Is Ours.” Grande reposted the clip on her Instagram Story without expanding any further.

A more concrete hint arrived on Monday when Grande shared a TikTok of the actor dancing to the chorus from “The Boy Is Mine,” all flailing arms and shimmying shoulders. The first teaser trailer for the upcoming video did not involve Badgley and lasted just 10-seconds. It showed a man turning on a faucet and plunging his face in the sink.

While his head is down, a pair of claw-nailed hands emerge from the crack in the door. As the third single from Eternal Sunshine , “The Boy Is Mine” follows “We Can’t Be Friends (Wait For Your Love)” — the video for which paid homage to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind —.