Australian man who ambushed Ariana Grande on red carpet jailed in Singapore

2 hours ago 2

An Australian man who invaded the red carpet and ambushed Ariana Grande at the Wicked: For Good premiere in Singapore last week has been jailed.

On Thursday, Johnson Wen, 26, evaded security at Universal Studios, jumped over the barricade and ran to a visibly shocked Grande. Multiple viral videos of the incident showed Wen jostling the 32-year-old star and putting his arm around her, as co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh leapt to Grande’s defence.

Per BBC News, a court in Singapore has since found Wen guilty of being a public nuisance, sentencing him to nine days in prison. Wen, who previously crashed Katy Perry’s stage in Sydney and The Weeknd’s stage in Melbourne, has been behind bars for four days, with five more days to serve.

According to Agence France-Presse, Wen was arrested hours after the incident and charged with “being a public nuisance”. In Singapore, that charge could have led to three months in prison, a fine of up to $SG2000 ($2364), or both.

“This act was premeditated,” Singapore District Judge Christopher Goh said, adding Wen had shown “a pattern of behaviour, which suggests that you will do it again”.

“You seem to be attention-seeking, thinking only of yourself and not the safety of others when committing these acts,” Goh told Wen.

Wen, who appeared in court via video link and pleaded guilty, said: “I won’t do it again, Your Honour. I am going to stop getting into trouble.”

Goh said the court needed to “send a signal to like-minded individuals … that we will not condone any act that potentially undermines the reputation of Singapore as a safe country”.

The court heard Wen attempted to intrude on Thursday’s film premiere twice. He made contact with Grande in his first attempt, before Erivo forcibly pried him off the singer-songwriter and actress and security escorted him out. Wen then tried to jump the barricades again, but security staff intervened and pinned him down.

After the incident, Wen wrote on Instagram alongside video from the red carpet: “Dear Ariana Grande Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You.”

He also shared a video to his Instagram Story, alongside the text: “I’m Free after being Arrested.”

Fans condemned Wen’s actions on his social media pages, which are littered with footage of his disruptions.

Grande has been vocal about her struggles with post-traumatic stress disorder and anxiety after 22 people died in a terrorist attack at her 2017 Manchester concert.

Neither Grande, Erivo, Yeoh nor Universal Pictures have publicly addressed the incident, though Erivo appeared to allude to it in a recent interview.

“We have come through some stuff in our lives, our daily workings,” Erivo said while speaking about her relationship with Grande while filming. “Even this last week, let’s be honest.”

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