Ariana Grande’s Wicked co-star Marissa Bode is speaking out against fans who cross the personal boundaries of public figures, following an incident at the Singapore premiere of Wicked: For Good in which a man charged at the actress and pop star on the red carpet.
Bode, 25, who plays Nessarose Thropp in the two-part Wicked films, posted several videos to TikTok on Thursday, Nov. 13, responding to the incident and challenging the idea that the man who rushed at Grande, 32, should be considered “a fan.”
“‘But they’re a fan!’ Okay. Then they’re a fan and a loser,” Bode said in one video, addressing social media users who defended the man’s behavior at the Singapore premiere.
The actress also explained that she has previously discussed issues of “parasociality, especially at things like concerts or just when someone in the public eye is at an event, like people throwing s— on stage mid-performance” on her TikTok account.
The man who charged at Grande, Johnson Wen, known online as “Pyjama Man”, shared footage of the incident on Instagram and has a history of jumping onstage at concerts and other events featuring celebrities. Wen was charged with being a public nuisance by a Singapore court on Friday, Nov. 14, according to the BBC.
“This is what I mean when I say social media brings out the worst in people,” Bode said on TikTok. “Oh, did you get your views? Did you get your likes? Guess what you also did? You made somebody feel incredibly unsafe, but just, no remorse. That goes over your head. You’re a bad person.”
Bode further added that she does not believe “women, or really anybody, should be expected to move with grace or respond with kindness when they’ve been violated in that way, and to expect that makes you a weirdo also.”
“The thing is, most of the time women within the public eye do respond with kindness because they know what the result is going to be if they don’t,” she said.