Man Who Grabbed Ariana Grande at ‘Wicked’ Premiere Banned From Singapore

After being spending time behind bars for nine days in Singapore, the 26-year-old Australian man who charged at Ariana Grande on a Wicked premiere red carpet will now be cast out of the country for good.

BBC News reported on Sunday (Nov. 23) that Johnson Wen — who went viral a few weeks ago after jumping the barricade at Universal Studios Singapore and putting hands on the singer-actress without consent — has been banished from the Asian city-state and barred from re-entry, citing Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. His deportation comes after he served nine days in Singaporean jail for the crime of being a “public nuisance.”

The uproar caused by Wen’s actions has stood out among the promotional cycle for Wicked: For Good, which hit theaters worldwide on Nov. 21. At the film’s premiere in Singapore, Wen barreled toward the R.E.M. Beauty founder and aggressively put an arm around her neck, leaving her visibly shaken. As he was pried off of Grande by security personnel — and by Cynthia Erivo, who immediately sprang into action — Wen grabbed the pop superstar’s shoulder and hung onto her for as long as he could.

“I wasn’t really thinking,” Erivo recalled of defending Grande in a recent interview with Today. “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe … That was my first instinct, yeah.”

Grande has not commented publicly on the situation. Wen, however, has continued to boast about his actions on social media, where he often posts videos of himself stage-crashing concerts and touching stars such as The Weeknd and The Chainsmokers without permission. This summer, he was arrested for doing the same to Katy Perry.

Wicked: For Good now in theaters after a yearlong wait since the first Wicked premiered in November 2024. The sequel’s soundtrack also dropped Nov. 21, featuring two brand new songs performed by Erivo and Grande.