Authorities have charged the man who rushed at Ariana Grande while she walked the yellow brick road carpet at the Singapore premiere of her new movie Wicked: For Good on Thursday.
On Friday, the Australian man, named Johnson Wen, was charged with being a public nuisance by a Singapore court.
Wen, 26, pleaded guilty to the charge on Monday and was sentenced to nine days in jail.
Wen told the court that he arrived in Singapore on Nov. 11 on a 90-day social visit pass to attend the premiere and for a holiday, the Straits Times reports.
In the now-viral video from the Wicked: For Good premiere, Wen jumped over a barricade as Grande was signing autographs while walking along the carpet at Universal Studios Singapore, alongside co-stars Cynthia Erivo, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum.
Wen then sprinted over to Grande and threw his arm around her, jumping up and down excitedly while waving at the crowd. Erivo quickly intervened, pulling them apart just before security stepped in and escorted him off the carpet.
Grande looked visibly shaken in the video and took a deep breath as Erivo hugged her once the man was gone.
After Wen was removed by security, he reportedly returned to try and jump over the barricade for a second time but was pinned down by security and escorted off the property.
Wen calls himself a “prankster” on his TikTok account, where he shared the footage.
“Dear Ariana Grande Thanks for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You #wicked,” Wen wrote in his caption.
Wen was originally arrested around midnight local time on Nov. 14 and charged the same day.
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When asked by District Judge Christopher Goh if he had anything to say during his court appearance, Wen said: “I won’t do it again, Your Honour.”
The judge asked, “Are you paying lip service or is this your intention?”
“Yes, I’m going to stop,” Wen told the judge.
Goh said Wen had not faced any consequences for his previous disruptions with celebrities as a “serial intruder.”
“Perhaps you thought the same would occur here, but Mr. Wen, you are wrong. You should be mindful that there are always consequences for one’s actions,” Goh said.
Goh noted that Wen’s acts were premeditated because he had planned to jump over the barricade to record the video and share it on social media.
“You seem to be attention-seeking, thinking only of yourself, and not the safety of others, when committing these acts,” the judge added.
Grande has not spoken out about the incident but Erivo briefly alluded to it during a screening in Los Angeles over the weekend.
“We have come through some sh–,” Erivo said. “I mean, f—, even this last week, let’s be honest.”
Wen recently stormed onstage and put his arm around Katy Perry during a concert in Sydney, Australia, in June.
Perry was performing her hit song Hot N Cold at the Qudos Bank Arena when Wen rushed onto the stage and began dancing beside her.
The singer looked visibly shocked in a video shared to social media as the man tried to put his arm around her and jumped up and down on stage — similar to his actions with Grande.
Wen then started dancing by himself after Perry spun around to distance herself from him and continued to sing. As he performed the “floss” dance move, security approached him from both sides and escorted him off stage.
“There’s never going to be another show like this, so just enjoy it, Sydney,” Perry said into her microphone as security grabbed the man. “What the hell is going on?”
Police in New South Wales told NBC News that the man had been arrested and charged with two offences, including entering enclosed land and obstructing a person in the performance of work or duties.
Wen hasn’t just approached Perry and Grande; he’s shared previous videos of himself running onstage during The Weeknd’s concert in Melbourne last year and running onto the field at the FIFA Women’s World Cup final in 2023.
When asked after the incident how he keeps getting past security, Wen told Australia’s 9News it was “Magic. Just kidding, I’m just too quick.”
Wen said he has racked up an estimated $20,000 in fines over his stage-invading antics.
“I’m planning to, like, quit forever because you get in way too much trouble for it,” he added.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
