Man who rushed Ariana Grande at “Wicked: For Good” premiere faces charges in Singapore

Singapore authorities charged an Australian man Friday for rushing film star Ariana Grande at the Asia premiere of “Wicked: For Good.”

Grande and other stars were attending the opening night of the film at Universal Studios in Singapore when the man, identified by court papers as Johnson Wen, 26, jumped a barricade and rushed the actor.

Wen was charged with “being a public nuisance,” Singapore court documents posted online showed. Wen represented himself and said he would plead guilty, according to the documents. He is to appear in court again on Monday.

Viral video clips show the man wrapping around a shocked Grande before he jumps up and down and waves to the crowd. Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo then rushes to her defense, jumping between Wen and Grande and shoving him away. He was then grabbed by security guards and put back over the barricade. Footage shows Erivo and others on the red carpet comforting Grande. 

After the incident, Wen shared video on Instagram and thanked Grande for “letting (him) jump on the Yellow Carpet” with her. 

If sentenced, Wen faces a $1,500 fine, three months in jail, or both.

Singapore’s public prosecutions office could not immediately be reached for comment.

The movie launch went ahead on Thursday night. “Wicked: For Good” will be released in the United States on Nov. 21. 

Grande and Erivo have been inseparable during the movie musical’s press tours. In December 2024, Erivo told “CBS Mornings” that the duo made a pact early in production to take care of and support each other. 

“Before we started shooting both of us had a conversation about making sure that we would take care of each other and make the space that we needed for each other, and take, you know, give each other what we needed, be generous with each other in this thing, because we knew it was a big undertaking,” Erivo said. “We knew we had a big responsibility, but we knew neither of us could really do that alone.”

Grande, 32, began her career as a teen on Broadway before embarking on a hugely successful pop career. At perhaps the height of her meteoric pop fame in 2017, one of her concerts was bombed. The Manchester Arena attack killed 22 people, wounded more than 1,000 and left Grande with PTSD.