A man who rushed onto the stage during the Singapore premiere of “Wicked: For Good” has been deported and banned from the city-state. Johnson Wen, 26, was returned to his home in Australia on November 13, 2023, following the incident, according to a spokesperson for Singapore’s Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA). Wen has also received a nine-day jail sentence for public nuisance.
The incident occurred at Universal Studios in Singapore, where Wen jumped over a barricade and approached Ariana Grande. Video footage captured him briefly putting his arm around the singer before co-stars Cynthia Erivo and Michelle Yeoh, among others, intervened. Following the event, Erivo expressed her concern for Grande’s safety, stating, “I just wanted to make sure my friend was safe. I’m sure he didn’t mean us harm, but I just, you never know with those things and I wanted to make sure that she was OK.”
Wen, known on social media as “Pyjama Man,” has a history of rushing stages and ambushing celebrities, including an incident at a concert in Sydney earlier this year. After the premiere, he posted an Instagram video thanking Grande for “letting” him jump onto the carpet. In a message to NBC News, he described himself as a “mega fan” of Grande and revealed that he had long dreamed of meeting her.
A Singapore judge criticized Wen’s behavior, labeling it as “attention-seeking.” According to Channel News Asia, the judge noted that Wen was misguided to think he could act without facing consequences in Singapore. Grande, who has previously spoken about her experiences with post-traumatic stress disorder following the tragic bombing at her concert in Manchester in 2017, has not publicly commented on the incident.
The premiere of “Wicked: For Good” has garnered significant attention, with Universal Pictures reporting an estimated $150 million at the domestic box office and $226 million worldwide during its opening weekend. This achievement marks the largest opening for a Broadway adaptation, surpassing the record previously set by the first “Wicked” film last year. Universal Pictures is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
