The man who rushed at Ariana Grande at a Wicked: For Good premiere has been charged in Singapore.
On Thursday (November 13), Grande was walking down the red carpet with her Wicked co-stars at the Asia-Pacific premiere of the new sequel at Universal Studios in Singapore, when a man jumped the barricade and ran at Grande, wrapping his arms around her and jumping up and down.
The singer and actor froze in shock while Cynthia Erivo immediately came to her assistance, pushing the man away as security removed him from the red carpet.
Now, the individual – an Australian social media prankster named Johnson Wen, who posts under the name pyjamamann – has been charged in a Singaporean court for being a public nuisance.
Local media have reported that Wen, 26, intends to plead guilty, and he now faces a fine of up to S$2,000 (£1,168).
Wen confirmed that he was the assailant shortly after the incident on Thursday, posting the video on Instagram and writing: “Dear Ariana Grande, thank you for letting me jump on the Yellow Carpet with you.”
He later shared footage from a different angle of him being apprehended and tossed out of the venue by security. He also claimed in a separate video that he was “free” after being arrested.
This isn’t Wen’s first time rushing at prolific artists: he has previously shared clips of himself running onstage at a Chainsmokers concert in December in Sydney, a Katy Perry gig in the same city in June, and again at a Weeknd show in Melbourne in August.
He has also invaded the 100m finals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, and the 2023 Cricket World Cup finals.
Wicked: For Good is set to premiere in cinemas worldwide on November 21.
The first film received a four-star review from NME, with Nick Levine writing: “By the end, you won’t quite be levitating off your seat but you’ll definitely be enchanted enough to stream the soundtrack on the way home. Funny, colourful and full of empathy for outsiders, this film really is the Shiz.”
