Person That Grabbed Ariana Grande at Movie Premiere Barred from Singapore
An individual of Australian nationality who jumped across a fence and reached for Hollywood star Ariana Grande has been sent away and barred from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, aged 26, was handed a penalty to more than a week in prison for being a public nuisance and has now been "barred from re-entering Singapore," the country's border control told local media.
The man shoved through camera crews and approached aggressively the celebrity, who was participating in the Asian debut for Wicked: For Good on 13 November. Co-star Cynthia Erivo intervened to remove him from Grande.
Wen has a history of disrupting concerts and celebrity events, including leaping onto the platform at Katy Perry's Sydney concert in this summer.
The occurrence caused anger in Singapore, with many accusing him of triggering past trauma for the singer.
The pop star has mentioned experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder after a explosive incident at her show in Manchester in May 2017 killed 22 people and injured hundreds.
Throughout the court proceedings, the authorities learned he had made efforts to breach on the red carpet event on two occasions, according to Singaporean media.
He then made a follow-up try to cross the barriers. Security staff stopped him and held him in place.
Wen later posted video clips appreciating the celebrity for permitting his access and said he was "released."
Police took him into custody the subsequent day and charged him with public nuisance, to which the man admitted guilt.
The Presiding Judge the magistrate was quoted by Channel News Asia as remarking that the man sought attention, adding that he was wrong to assume he would not experience repercussions.
The actress has not commented on the situation.
Cynthia Erivo discussed the situation to the press, stating that she "just wanted to make sure my co-star was safe."
"I think he didn't mean us injury, but you cannot be certain with these incidents, and I sought to make sure that she was fine. That was my initial reaction," she commented.
