SINGAPORE: Authorities in Singapore on Friday charged an Australian man who grabbed Ariana Grande at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good on November 13.
Grande and other cast members were attending the film’s opening night at Universal Studios in the city-state when a man—identified in court documents as 26-year-old Johnson Wen—jumped a barricade and rushed toward the actor.
Viral video clips show the man wrapping his arm around a visibly startled Grande before jumping excitedly and waving to the crowd. Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo quickly intervened, while security guards seized the man and pushed him back over the barricade.
Wen has a history as a serial event crasher, having previously disrupted Katy Perry’s Sydney concert, The Weeknd’s Melbourne show, and the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
According to Singapore court documents released online, Wen was charged on Friday with “being a public nuisance.” Wen represented himself and said he would plead guilty, added the documents.
He is to appear in court again on Monday. If sentenced, Wen faces a $1,500 fine, three months in jail, or both.
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Grande, 32, began her career as a teen on Broadway before achieving massive success as a pop star. At the peak of her meteoric pop fame, in 2017, one of her concerts was tragically targeted in a bombing.
The Manchester Arena attack killed 22 people, wounded more than 1,000 and left Grande with PTSD (Post-traumatic stress disorder).
