Person Who Approached Ariana Grande at Film Launch Prohibited from Singapore
An Australian man who jumped over a barricade and reached for celebrity Ariana Grande has been sent away and banned from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, aged 26, was handed a penalty to nine days in jail for being a public nuisance and has now been "prohibited from returning to Singapore," Singaporean immigration authorities told Singaporean press.
The man shoved past photographers and approached aggressively the celebrity, who was attending the regional launch for the film on 13 November. Fellow actress Cynthia Erivo intervened to remove him from Grande.
He has a background of causing disturbances at events and star-studded occasions, including leaping onto the platform at Katy Perry's Sydney concert in this summer.
The event provoked strong reactions in Singapore, with numerous people accusing him of causing further distress to the star.
The singer has spoken of suffering from PTSD after a terrorist bombing at her performance in the English city in several years ago resulted in the deaths of over twenty people and affected hundreds.
In the legal process, the court heard he had attempted to intrude on the red carpet event multiple times, according to local news sources.
He then made a second attempt to breach security. Protection personnel stopped him and pinned him down.
Wen later posted video clips thanking Grande for allowing his presence and said he was "released."
Law enforcement arrested him the subsequent day and brought charges against him with causing a disturbance, to which the man admitted guilt.
The District Judge the judicial official was referenced by a news outlet as saying that the man sought attention, commenting that he was wrong to believe he would not face any penalties.
The actress has not addressed the situation.
Cynthia Erivo spoke about the event to a media outlet, saying that she "simply desired to ensure my friend was protected."
"I believe he didn't mean us injury, but you cannot be certain with those things, and I sought to confirm that she was OK. That was my first instinct," she said.
