Man That Grabbed Ariana Grande during Red Carpet Event Barred from Singapore
An individual of Australian nationality who vaulted across a fence and grabbed celebrity Ariana Grande has been deported and prohibited from Singapore.
Johnson Wen, twenty-six, was given a sentence to nine days in jail for causing a public disturbance and has now been "prohibited from returning to Singapore," the country's border control stated to Singaporean press.
The man shoved through camera crews and approached aggressively the celebrity, who was present at the Asian premier for Wicked: For Good on November 13. Fellow actress Cynthia Erivo pulled him back from Grande.
The individual has a record of interrupting performances and high-profile gatherings, including jumping on stage at a Katy Perry performance in Sydney in the past June.
The occurrence caused anger in Singapore, with numerous people accusing him of re-traumatising Grande.
The pop star has discussed dealing with post-traumatic stress disorder after a explosive incident at her show in the UK city in May 2017 took the lives of 22 individuals and affected hundreds.
Throughout the court proceedings, the court heard he had made efforts to breach on the red carpet event multiple times, according to regional reports.
He then made a second attempt to cross the barriers. Event security stopped him and held him in place.
He then uploaded video clips expressing gratitude to the star for letting him on the carpet and said he was "free."
Police arrested him the subsequent day and brought charges against him with disorderly conduct, to which Wen pleaded guilty.
The Presiding Judge Christopher Goh was referenced by media reports as stating that the man sought attention, commenting that he was wrong to assume he would not face any penalties.
Grande has not addressed the case.
Cynthia Erivo spoke about the incident to NBC, saying that she "just wanted to verify my friend was safe."
"I'm sure he didn't intend us injury, but you never know with these incidents, and I wanted to make sure that she was alright. That was my initial reaction," she stated.
