Life Awards 2025
The Most Wicked Non-Singaporean To Put Singapore On The Map Award goes to Johnson Wen
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Australian national Johnson Wen charged at American actress and pop star Ariana Grande in Singapore at the Asia premiere of the movie sequel Wicked: For Good in November.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – Just as many thought 2025 was coming to a peaceful end, Singapore found itself in the unpleasant situation of making global headlines – for the wrong reasons.
Australian Johnson Wen
At the ticketed yellow carpet event held at Universal Studios Singapore on Nov 13, the Australian citizen jumped the barricade and rushed towards Grande, flinging his arm roughly around her.
Her co-star Cynthia Erivo swiftly pushed him off, forcing herself in between to protect Grande. He was tossed over the barricade by security – but not before hundreds of ticket-holding fans had captured the invasive act on camera.
Videos of the harassment flooded social media, spawning news reports, commentaries and the inevitable memes.
Ariana Grande comforted by her co-star Cynthia Erivo after the incident.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
It marred what was meant to be a momentous night for the country. The Republic was one of just five stops – alongside Sao Paulo, Paris, London and New York – on Wicked: For Good’s international promo tour, and the only one in Asia.
Wen, who left the venue unscathed, was charged the next day and given a jail sentence of nine days barred from re-entering Singapore
But the damage has been done. One can hardly refer to the Wicked premiere in Singapore without associating it with the serial intruder, who has a track record of harassing celebrities at concert tours and public events (he was recently bounced out of Lady Gaga’s Brisbane concert
Local netizens and content creators took to the internet to defend Singapore and its iron-clad reputation for safety. Plus, they cried, to anyone who would listen: Wen was not even Singaporean.
Alas, the small outpouring of patriotism was no match for the intersection of multiple global fandoms – from Broadway nerds to Wicked fans to Arianators, Grande’s loyal fan base. Any attempts to distance Singapore from Wen have long been drowned out by the angry mob.
Australian national Johnson Wen marred what was meant to be a momentous night for Singapore with his attention-seeking stunt on the yellow carpet.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
Like a black mark, the shame of the incident followed the Wicked cast for the rest of the press tour. Seemingly alluding to it, Erivo said during a Screen Actors Guild screening on Nov 15: “We have come through some s***. I mean, even this last week. Let’s be honest, we’ve had to really deal with some stuff, and this movie has allowed us to grow as people, as friends, as sisters, as artistes, as actresses.”
The leading ladies also declined press interviews at the New York premiere on Nov 17, the final stop of the promotional tour, causing many to speculate they had been worn down by the “traumatic” Singapore leg.
No one mourns the wicked and, unfortunately, no one will forget it soon either. So, for this grave offence, the award goes – begrudgingly – to Wen.
