SINGAPORE: A 26-year-old Australian man who rushed at Wicked star Ariana Grande during a premiere in Singapore was sentenced to nine days’ jail on Monday (Nov 17) for public nuisance.
In sentencing, District Judge Christopher Goh told Johnson Wen that he was “attention-seeking” and that he was wrong to think that he would have suffered no consequences for his acts in Singapore.
Wen, who has been remanded since Nov 14, pleaded guilty to one charge of causing annoyance to the public by causing a commotion during the Wicked: For Good Singapore premiere.
In widely circulated videos of the incident at Resorts World Sentosa on Nov 13, Wen was seen jumping over a barricade.
He then ran towards Grande, put his arm around her and jumped up and down. Co-star Cynthia Erivo, who plays green-skinned Elphaba in the movie, rushed in to break his hold.
Security officers tackled Wen and escorted him out of the venue. The incident has been reported on globally.
THE CASE
Wen appeared in court from his place of remand via video-link. He was dressed in a white shirt, with unruly hair and what appeared to be blue extensions as seen in his previous videos.
The court heard that Wen arrived in Singapore on Nov 11 to attend the event, and for a holiday.
Before the event, he posted an Instagram story of himself saying: “That’s my best friend, Ariana Grande”, and that he had dreamed of meeting her.
In the post, he can be seen and heard laughing.
On the evening of Nov 13, Universal Studios Singapore hosted a yellow carpet event for the Wicked: For Good movie.
Cast members for the film, including Grande, Erivo, Jeff Goldblum and Michelle Yeoh, walked down the carpet to sign autographs for fans, including some who came from overseas.
Between 7pm and 7.11pm, Wen jumped over the barricade and ran towards the cast. He placed his arm around Grande and jumped up and down, while Grande looked shocked.
On seeing this, Erivo and several security guards moved to stop him.
This disrupted the event and shocked many fans, the prosecution said.
As Wen was being escorted out, he suddenly turned back and ran towards the yellow carpet and made a second attempt to jump over the barricade.
This time, he was stopped and pinned by security officers.
That night, Wen posted on Instagram, saying he was free after being arrested. He also posted videos of the incident on TikTok and Instagram and thanked Grande.
Multiple videos of the incident circulated on social media. Local and international news outlets also published articles about the incident.
Wen admitted that he knew his acts would cause annoyance to the public.
Investigations showed that Wen had a pattern of disrupting high-profile events, including concerts by Katy Perry, The Chainsmokers and The Weeknd.
In follow-up investigations, the police located Wen at Temple Street on Nov 14 and arrested him for public nuisance.
He has been remanded for four days.
Wen listened quietly to proceedings and appeared to have trouble understanding some of the phrases read out by the court officer, asking her to repeat herself a few times.
When asked what language he spoke, he said: “English. Australia.”
Deputy Public Prosecutor Jane Lim sought a week’s jail, saying that while Wen had no criminal record in Singapore, he is by no means a first-time offender.
Instead, he is a “serial intruder” with a “glaring lack of remorse”, and a sufficiently deterrent sentence is needed to impress upon him that such conduct is criminal in nature and will not be condoned in Singapore, said Ms Lim.
In mitigation, Wen said: “I won’t do it again, your honour.”
Judge Goh asked him: “Are you just paying lip service, or is this indeed your intention?”
Wen replied: “Yes, I’m going to stop, your honour … Been getting into trouble, your honour.”
In response, the prosecutor said jail was needed, despite Wen saying he would not do it again.
“Because his conduct has to stop at some point, and he has to change,” said Ms Lim, stressing that the only sentence that would achieve this outcome is a jail term.
In sentencing, Judge Goh said Wen had committed numerous similar acts, but not in Singapore.
“And it does not appear that you had faced any sort of consequences for your past acts, and perhaps you thought that the same will occur here, that is to say, you would have suffered no consequences for the same acts here,” said the judge.
“Mr Wen, you are wrong. You should be mindful that there are always consequences for one’s actions.”
He agreed with the prosecution that his act was premeditated, planned, and carried out intentionally to catch the attention of other people.
While there was no actual harm caused in this case, there was a possibility of potential harm, as a breach of the security barrier could have caused panic, said Judge Goh.
“It was fortunate that something bad did not occur,” said the judge. “You seem to be attention-seeking, thinking only of yourself and not the safety of others when committing these acts.”
He agreed with the prosecution that Wen showed a lack of remorse, “brazenly” posting an Instagram story to show that he was free after his arrest.
While the judge agreed with the prosecution on the submission for jail, he said “a small uplift” was appropriate and imposed nine days’ jail, saying he hoped this would end Wen’s behaviour “for good”.
For public nuisance, Wen could have been jailed for up to three months, fined up to S$2,000, or both.
