A Singapore court sentenced an Australian man to nine days in jail on Monday after he grabbed film star Ariana Grande at the Asian premiere of Wicked: For Good last week.<\/p>\n
Grande and other stars were attending the opening night of the film at Universal Studios in the city-state when the man, identified by court papers as 26-year-old Johnson Wen, jumped a barricade and put his arm around the actor.<\/p>\n
Video clips, which have gone viral online, show the man wrapping his arm around a shocked Grande before jumping up and down and smilingly waving to the crowd.<\/p>\n
Grande’s co-star Cynthia Erivo then rushes to her defence and the man is grabbed by security guards and dumped back over the barricade.<\/p>\n
Wen was arrested hours later and charged with “being a public nuisance”.<\/p>\n
“This act was premeditated,” Singapore District Judge Christopher Goh said, before handing Wen a nine-day sentence.<\/p>\n
Dressed in a plain white shirt and appearing via a videolink, Wen at first seemed confused when prosecutors read out the charge, but proceeded to enter a guilty plea.<\/p>\n
Wen, who is alleged to have disrupted other global sports events and concerts, “showed a pattern of behaviour, which suggests that you will do it again,” said the judge.<\/p>\n
“You seem to be attention seeking, thinking only of yourself and not the safety of others when committing these acts,” added Judge Goh.<\/p>\n
He told Wen he was “wrong” to think his actions would bear no consequences.<\/p>\n
“You should be mindful that there are always consequences for one’s actions.”<\/p>\n
Asked if he had anything to say in mitigation of his sentence, Wen told the judge: “I won’t do it again, Your Honour. I am going to stop getting into trouble.”<\/p>\n
Judge Goh said the court needed to “send a signal to like-minded individuals\u2026 that we will not condone any act that potentially undermines the reputation of Singapore as a safe country”.<\/p>\n