Singapore jails Australian man who grabbed Wicked star

A Singapore court has sentenced an Australian man to nine days in prison for detaining Hollywood star Ariana Grande at a movie premiere.

Johnson Wynn, 26, was charged with public nuisance Notable incident Last Thursday at the Asia premiere of Wicked: For Good.

Videos posted on social media showed Wayne jumping over barriers, attacking a visibly shocked Grande, and grabbing her shoulders as she jumped up and down.

The incident sparked outrage in Singapore, with many calling for the arrest and deportation of Wayne, who has a history of disrupting concerts and celebrity events.

Many accused him of “re-traumatizing” Grande. The pop star-turned-actress spoke of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder after the suicide attack at her concert in Manchester in May 2017, which killed 22 people and injured hundreds.

Singaporean media reported that during Wen’s trial on Monday, the court heard that he tried to break into the film premiere twice.

Moments after he grabbed Grande, her colleague Cynthia Erivo forcibly removed him and security personnel escorted him outside.

Then he made a second attempt to jump the barricades. The security men stopped him and pinned him down this time.

Wen later posted videos of the incident on his social media accounts thanking Grande and saying he was “free.”

Singapore Police arrested him the next day and charged him with public nuisance. Wen pleaded guilty.

Prosecutors called for Wayne to be jailed for a week, arguing that he was a “serial hacker” who spread his behavior to gain popularity online.

Wayne has posted videos of himself disrupting concerts by Katy Perry and The Weeknd, and storming the field at various sporting events. Australian media reported that he was banned from entering some stadiums and imposed heavy fines.

Wen, who was not represented in the Singapore court, told the judge he would “never do it again”.

Under Singapore’s laws against public nuisance, Wen could have been sentenced to up to three months in prison, a fine of up to S$2,000 (£1,167; US$1,537), or both.

Grande has not commented on the case, while she continues to make public appearances at events in Los Angeles over the weekend.

But two days after the incident, Erivo appeared to allude to the incident when she spoke about her relationship with Grande while filming the movie, saying, “We’ve been through some things in our lives, our daily routines… even in the last week, let’s be honest.”