Individual That Grabbed Ariana Grande on the occasion of Premiere Prohibited from Singapore
An individual of Australian nationality who jumped over a barricade and touched actress Ariana Grande has been sent away and prohibited from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, 26, was sentenced to over a week in jail for disrupting public order and has now been "banned from entering the country again," the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority told news outlets.
The man shoved through camera crews and approached aggressively the performer and artist, who was attending the Asian debut for Wicked: For Good on 13 November. Co-performer Cynthia Erivo pulled him back from Grande.
He has a background of interrupting performances and celebrity events, including rushing the stage at Katy Perry's Sydney concert in June this year.
The event provoked strong reactions in Singapore, with several individuals accusing him of re-traumatising Grande.
The singer has mentioned suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after a suicide bomb attack at her performance in the UK city in May 2017 resulted in the deaths of over twenty people and affected hundreds.
Throughout the court proceedings, the court heard he had attempted to intrude on the film's premiere on two occasions, according to regional reports.
He then made a second attempt to jump the barricades. Event security stopped him and held him in place.
The man subsequently shared videos expressing gratitude to the star for letting him on the carpet and said he was "released."
Police detained him the next day and brought charges against him with public nuisance, to which he confessed.
The Court Judge the magistrate was quoted by a news outlet as remarking that he was looking for publicity, noting that he was mistaken to assume he would not suffer any consequences.
The singer has not addressed the case.
The co-star mentioned the incident to NBC, stating that she "just wanted to ensure my friend was protected."
"I believe he didn't mean us danger, but you can't predict with these incidents, and I aimed to confirm that she was OK. That was my initial reaction," she said.
