SINGAPORE – The adoring screams of hundreds of fans at Universal Studios Singapore on Nov 13 as
the cast of Wicked: For Good
walked down the the yellow carpet for its premiere turned briefly into stunned gasps when a man jumped the barricade and rushed towards the film’s star Ariana Grande.
In multiple videos of the incident, which has gone viral, the man can be seen appearing to put his arm around pop star Grande in a tight hug.
The petite actress recoiled in shock, but co-star Cynthia Erivo – with whom she shares
a special sisterhood
– instinctively forced herself between Grande and the intruder, while security guards quickly apprehended the fan.
The intruder was later tossed by a member of security back over the barricade. Some fans near him protested loudly, chiding the guard for being too rough.
After the incident, the rest of the cast – including Michelle Yeoh – quickly huddled around Grande to check if she was okay before continuing with their walk on the yellow carpet to greet fans and sign autographs.
Footage that made its rounds online later appeared to show the intruder being escorted out of the venue by security.
For the intruder, as it turns out, this wasn’t his first rodeo.
The man, Mr Johnson Wen, is a serial intruder, having disrupted numerous concerts and events, including Katy Perry’s Sydney concert in June, as well as the men’s 100m final at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
An Australian national, the 25-year-old Wen has an Instagram account where he documents his antics, with his bio describing himself as the “2023 World Cup Final Pitch Invader” and “Troll Most Hated”, alongside a link to solicit donations to pay his bills, without elaborating what bills these were.
The GoFundMe page set up by Mr Johnson Wen, where he asked supporters for donations to “pay off all my bills.” A link is included on his Instagram account.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOFUNDME
The first post on the account, dated Nov 9, 2020, shows him screaming and running up a table in an unidentified mall before he begins to do the floss – a dance move.
In an interview with Australian TV news outlet 9News on June 10, Mr Wen was said to be unemployed and living at a backpackers’ hostel.
Banned from Accor Stadium in Sydney after he intruded onstage during Canadian singer The Weeknd’s concert in October 2024, he racked up an estimated A$20,000 (S$17,000) in fines, the news channel reported.
Following the stunt he pulled at Perry’s concert, Mr Wen promised that it would be his last brush with the law, but his latest antics prove otherwise.
Mr Johnson Wen (in white), an Australian national, has reportedly racked up an estimated A$20,000 (S$17,000) in fines for his antics.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Wicked: For Good’s Nov 13 premiere at the theme park in Resorts World Sentosa is the only Asia stop in the film’s international promotional tour that ends in New York City on Nov 17.
The movie’s stars, including Grande, Erivo, Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum, and director Jon M. Chu were dressed to the nines to greet their fans, who had paid more than $90 to enter the ticketed event.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.straitstimes.com ’
