The Australian man who jumped over a barricade and rushed Ariana Grande at the Wicked: For Good Asia premiere has been deported and banned from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, 26, was sentenced to nine days in jail for being a public nuisance after viral videos showed him pushing past photographers on the November 13 red carpet and grabbing Grande, jumping up and down while he yelled. Her co-star Cynthia Erivo pushed Wen off of the singer, who appeared visibly shaken, before security intervened. He was arrested the next day and charged with being a public nuisance, to which he pleaded guilty.
Now, Wen has been sent back to Australia and “barred from re-entering Singapore,” the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority said on Sunday.
Wen has a history of these incidents. He often posts videos of himself crashing star-studded events on his Instagram. After the latest incident, he described himself as a “Troll Most Hated” and captioned a video of the confrontation: “Dear Ariana Grande Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You.”
During sentencing, prosecutors slammed Wen as a “serial intruder.” District Judge Christopher Goh told him it was wrong to think he would not face consequences for his behavior.
“You seem to be attention-seeking, thinking only of yourself, and not the safety of others, when committing these acts,” the judge said.
Wen said, “I won’t do it again, Your Honor,” according to The Straits Times.
The viral incident sparked outrage as Grande has spoken about experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder after a deadly terrorist attack at her Manchester concert in 2017 killed 22 people and injured hundreds.
Wen, who has over 13,000 followers on Instagram and was arrested in Australia back in June for rushing on stage during a Katy Perry concert, has faced widespread backlash since his arrest.
“Congratulations. You managed to turn what should’ve been a magical premiere into a global showcase of your complete inability to behave like a functioning adult,” one Instagram user commented on his post.
“Rushing a woman — any woman, let alone someone who has survived unimaginable trauma — is not ‘a prank.’ It’s not ‘a stunt.’ It’s not ‘funny.’ It’s pathetic, dangerous, and shows a total lack of respect for boundaries, safety, and basic human decency.”
Grande has not spoken out about the incident, but Erivo spoke on the Today Show about the moment she pried Wen off her co-star.
“I wasn’t really thinking,” Erivo told Savannah Guthrie. “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe. I’m sure he didn’t mean us harm, but you never know with those things, and I wanted to make sure that she was OK. That was my first instinct.”
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