Cynthia Erivo’s quick thinking nearly saved Ariana Grande from a fan who charged at her during the Singapore premiere of “Wicked: For Good.”
Several fan-captured videos have emerged online showcasing the terrifying incident from different angles. It took place on Thursday, Nov. 13, when the co-stars were walking the yellow brick road red carpet at Universal Studios Singapore and greeting fans alongside their co-stars, Michelle Yeoh and Jeff Goldblum.
Suddenly, a man with black hair wearing a white shirt hopped over the barricade, and sprinted toward Grande, prompting Erivo to swiftly step in and protect her.
Videos show the man — whose name is Jonathan Wen — wrapping one arm around a startled Grande while jumping up and down as if he were celebrating.
Erivo was standing on one end of the carpet holding hands with Yeoh, who was between Erivo and Grande. Once she realized what was going on, Erivo released Yeoh’s hand and attempted to push the young man away from Grande. Seconds later, security guards rushed in and successfully pulled him off the “thank you, next” singer.
A second video shows Erivo and Yeoh holding Grande and checking on her after scolding the man. Grande looked flustered and wide-eyed, and a clip shows her tapping Erivo’s arm and nodding her head as if to communicate that she was OK.
Fans online praised Erivo for acting quickly for everyone’s safety. They said, “Cynthia did what needed to be done.”
Another typed, “cynthia doesn’t play about ari cause why is she doing more work than the security team?!”
Others were concerned about Grande as one person wrote, “Ariana looked so scared it just made my blood BOIL.”
A second wrote, “This was assault, plain and simple. The guy has done this before and is bragging on his Insta about ‘meeting’ Ariana. Like she’s a person and you just grabbed her round the neck and clearly frightened her wtf is wrong with you Since he’s publicly bragging I hope she sues.”
As it turns out Wen, who also goes by Pyjama Man on social media, did face some consequences. He was escorted away from the event and later arrested. He posted follow-up videos on his story with no remorse for his behavior.
In one video, he is standing in front of a poster of Grande as her character Glinda. He wrote, “I finally met Ariana Grande tonight!!!”
It seems the video was taken before the incident, because after pointing at the poster a few times, he said, “I feel like I’m in a dream. That’s my best friend Ariana Grande and I’m going to meet her. Yes I’ve been dreaming about that.”
Before the video ends, he does a witch-like chuckle similar to that of Erivo’s character Elphaba.
The man’s next video shows him on the premises of Universal Studios Singapore. He says, “Yes finally I dreamed about meeting Ariana Grande and finally my dreams became true,” and again chuckles at the end.
He shared an update with people watching his story in the final clip. While standing in what appears to be a mall, he waves his hands at the camera, with the caption reading, “I’m free after being arrested.”
He also reshared a video of the incident on his actual page and put a message in the caption for Grande specifically.
“@arianagrande @wickedmovie Dear Ariana Grande Thank You for letting me Jump on the Yellow Carpet with You,” he said.
According to a different fan on X, Wen had previously been escorted away from Grande.
They posted the video of him getting escorted and wrote, “getting taken away for the second time btw. the SECOND time.”
When someone asked the X user to clarify what they meant by, “the second time,” they responded, “the first time was the video that’s circulating. he thankfully couldn’t reach her the second time but just the fact that he was able to get on the carpet AGAIN after what he did is insanity.”
According to Wen’s Instagram page, he is a repeated offender at running up on celebrities. Last year in October, he ran on stage during The Weeknd’s concert in Australia and also wrote a message thanking him. He did the same with The Chainsmokers during their performance two months later, and with Katy Perry back in August.
He doesn’t just do this to artists. He’s also ran on the field during the 2023 World Cup Final, and he was tackled at the 2024 Paris Olympics after running on the track during the men’s 100 meters final and causing a delay.
All of that is to say Nov. 13 wasn’t his first rodeo and it more than likely won’t be his last.
