Ariana Grande Attacked At ‘Wicked: For Good’ Premiere in Singapore

By: Olivia Armstead

Singer and actress Ariana Grande was recently bombarded by a fan at the ‘Wicked: For Good’ premiere in Singapore on Thursday, Nov. 14. 

While walking the yellow carpet with her costars Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh, a fan managed to jump over the barricades and forcefully sling a shoulder over Grande’s arm. 

Grande’s co-star, Cynthia Erivo, was quick to jump into action and pull the fan away before security jumped in to handle the situation. Grande seemed visibly shaken by the incident as Erivo and Yeoh comforted her. 

According to People Magazine, fans quickly identified the attacker as Johnson Wen, who goes by the nickname “Pyjama Man” online. Wen is known for crashing celebrity events, managing to get on stage at a Katy Perry concert and crash a concert for The Weeknd before being rushed off stage by security, per People. 

As a result, according to CNN, Wen was sentenced to nine days in jail for being a ‘public nuisance.’The sentencing took place Monday, Nov. 17 and according to CNA and CNN, Wen promised to stop stage crashing and that he has been “getting in trouble”. 

Per CNA and CNN, the judge seemed to be unsympathetic to Wen’s supposed remorse. “[...] it does not appear that you had faced any sort of consequences for your past acts, and perhaps you thought that the same would occur here, that is to say, you would have suffered no consequences for the same acts here,” the judge said. 

“Mr. Wen, you are wrong. You should be mindful that there are always consequences for one’s actions,” the judge continued, per CNA and CNN. 

The recent event has raised concerns surrounding the amount of security working these high profile events and the ensured safety of celebrities. 

“I personally think they should have a high supply of security on deck for any high profile premieres. I definitely think there were people protecting Ariana but I’m not sure if they were actually paying attention to what was going on,” said Onesies Rose, a criminal justice major at Hampton University. “I think they should start having more aware police officers and ones on the outskirts as well, that way, stuff like this doesn’t occur ever again.”

Courtesy of People Magazine