Intruder Jailed and Deported After Shocking Red Carpet Incident
An Australian man whose viral red carpet ambush on pop star Ariana Grande sent shockwaves through Singapore has been jailed, deported, and officially barred from re-entering the country. Johnson Wen, 26, was sentenced to nine days in jail after pleading guilty to being a public nuisance for his actions at the Wicked: For Good Asia premiere on November 13.
The Confrontation: A Terrifying Moment on the Carpet
Viral footage from the event captured the moment Wen jumped over a barricade on the yellow carpet, pushing past photographers before grabbing a visibly shaken Ariana Grande. The singer’s co-star, Cynthia Erivo, was hailed as a hero for her quick-thinking intervention, physically prying Wen off Grande before security personnel could fully respond. The incident left Grande, who has publicly spoken about her PTSD following the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing, clearly distressed.
Following the event, Wen was arrested the next day and subsequently charged. During his court appearance, prosecutors labelled him a “serial intruder,” a title supported by his history of similar stunts. District Judge Christopher Goh criticised Wen’s “attention-seeking” behaviour, stating he was “thinking only of yourself, and not the safety of others.” Wen was reported to have told the judge, “I won’t do it again, Your Honour.”
Aftermath and Backlash for a ‘Serial Intruder’
The Singapore Immigration and Checkpoints Authority confirmed on Sunday that Wen had been sent back to Australia and is now “barred from re-entering Singapore.” This is not Wen’s first offence; he was previously arrested in Australia in June for rushing the stage during a Katy Perry concert. On his Instagram, where he has over 13,000 followers, he often posts videos of himself crashing high-profile events.
In a since-deleted post following the Grande incident, he captioned a video of the confrontation: “Dear Ariana Grande Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You,” and described himself as a “Troll Most Hated.” The act sparked widespread backlash online, with one social media user commenting, “Congratulations. You managed to turn what should’ve been a magical premiere into a global showcase of your complete inability to behave like a functioning adult.”
While Grande has not publicly commented on the ordeal, her protector, Cynthia Erivo, spoke about the instinctual moment on the Today Show. “I wasn’t really thinking,” Erivo told host Savannah Guthrie. “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe... I wanted to make sure that she was OK. That was my first instinct.”
