Ariana Grande was rushed by a man ahead of the premiere of “Wicked: For Good” in Singapore on Thursday, appearing frightened as co-star Cynthia Erivo and security rushed to intervene.
The man who rushed Grande, Johnson Wen, posted the video to his own Instagram account where he thanked Grande for “letting” him jump on to the carpet. Wen has an Instagram account under the name Pyjama Man man where he posts about rushing concert stages and sporting events.
But it did not appear that Grande was aware of the situation in the video, looking scared as the man ran towards her and put his arm around her while she stood beside her “Wicked” co-star Michelle Yeoh.
Cynthia Erivo, the film’s co-headliner, immediately jumped into action across the two women and tried to pry Wen off of Grande as security moved toward them. Yeoh also appeared to put her arms around Grande to pull her away from the man.
Videos posted by others online showed that Erivo seemed to move positions on the carpet to ensure Grande walked in between her and Yeoh.
Representatives for the “Wicked” film franchise did not immediately respond to a request for comment. “Wicked” For Good” is being released by Universal Pictures, which is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News.
Fans of Grande offered a fierce defense of the singer in the comments of Wen’s Instagram video, with some describing it as an assault on Grande. Commenters also called on others to report the man’s account.
Some of Grande’s fans pointed out that the singer has experienced prior trauma at events, referencing the 2017 bombing of her concert in Manchester where 22 people were killed. Grande, who says she’s always dealt with anxiety, told British Vogue in 2018 that she dealt with symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder after the attack.
“After all the trauma Ari has been through, this is beyond disrespectful,” one commenter wrote. “Not just to her, but to the cast and to all the fans. It’s literally infuriating. You should be ashamed.”
Wen has posted videos of himself crashing concert stages, including at Katy Perry and The Weeknd shows, as well as rushing the fields at sporting events. In a message to NBC News, Wen described himself as a “mega fan” of Grande and that he was “happy” to meet her.
“I dreamed about meeting her and now my dreams became true,” he wrote.
He did not respond to a request for comment on the backlash he’s facing online or that he might have scared Grande through his actions.
