Person Who Reached For Ariana Grande on the occasion of Film Launch Barred from Singapore
An individual of Australian nationality who jumped over a barricade and grabbed Hollywood star Ariana Grande has been expelled and banned from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, aged 26, was sentenced to over a week in detention for being a public nuisance and has now been "prohibited from returning to Singapore," the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority informed Singaporean press.
Wen pushed through camera crews and charged at the celebrity, who was participating in the regional launch for Wicked: For Good on 13 November. Co-performer Cynthia Erivo pulled him back from Grande.
He has a background of disrupting concerts and star-studded occasions, including jumping on stage at a Katy Perry performance in Sydney in this summer.
The event provoked strong reactions in Singapore, with several individuals accusing him of causing further distress to the star.
The celebrity has mentioned dealing with trauma-related anxiety after a suicide bomb attack at her performance in the English city in spring of 2017 took the lives of 22 individuals and injured hundreds.
Throughout the court proceedings, the judge was informed he had tried to gain access on the film's premiere multiple times, according to local news sources.
He then made a second attempt to jump the barricades. Protection personnel intercepted him and restrained him.
The man subsequently shared videos appreciating the celebrity for allowing his presence and said he was "free."
Law enforcement took him into custody the subsequent day and charged him with public nuisance, to which the man admitted guilt.
The District Judge the judicial official was cited by Channel News Asia as saying that he was looking for publicity, commenting that he was mistaken to assume he would not face any penalties.
The singer has not addressed the case.
Cynthia Erivo spoke about the event to the press, stating that she "only aimed to verify my colleague 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 initial reaction," she commented.
