SINGAPORE: Amos Yee, the controversial Singaporean internet personality and child exploitation offender, was assaulted by a cosplayer outside an anime convention at Suntec City on Saturday, in an incident that spread online through videos filmed by bystanders and Yee himself.

The videos showed a male teenager at the event punching, kicking and elbowing the 27-year-old while he crouched on the floor near the Doujin Market convention area. The attacker then appeared to tackle Yee from behind before a bystander stepped in to stop the fight.

According to organisers, the altercation didn’t happen inside the convention. Police said they received a call for assistance at about 2.15 pm. An 18-year-old male was arrested for causing public nuisance after Yee suffered minor injuries. Investigations are currently ongoing, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) and Mothership reported (May 9).

Yee was banned from attending the event by the organisers

The incident occurred after Doujin Market organisers, Neo Tokyo Project, decided earlier to cancel Yee’s ticket and ban him from the event following complaints from attendees.

Organisers said community members had expressed concern over Yee attending the convention, with some saying his presence made them feel unsafe.

Despite the ban, Yee still turned up at Suntec City and posted updates on X (Twitter) throughout the day, including photos from the exhibition area. One of his posts even carried the caption “Protect your kids.”

Protect your kids pic.twitter.com/LKoOzc50E5

— Amos Yee (@amosyeeishere) May 9, 2026

Yee also uploaded footage of the assault from his own perspective.

This is the attack from my perspective pic.twitter.com/nueAaGJttp

— Amos Yee (@amosyeeishere) May 9, 2026

Neo Tokyo Project said it doesn’t condone violence and stressed that its focus remains on keeping visitors and exhibitors safe.

The attacker claims that Yee was trying to molest another attendee

The alleged attacker posted on his Instagram Story, claiming he saw Yee allegedly trying to molest another attendee at the venue.

The teen claimed he confronted Yee and attempted to make him leave before the situation escalated into a physical altercation. Those claims, however, haven’t been verified by police.

Yee posted about the attack on X, showing his sustained injuries on his upper lip.

The incident triggered heavy discussion online, with reactions ranging from condemning the assault to debating Yee’s presence at a fan convention filled with younger attendees.

Amos Yee remains one of Singapore’s most divisive internet figures

Yee first gained notoriety in Singapore in 2015 after posting offensive online remarks about Christians and Muslims. He later left for the United States in 2016 after serving jail time in Singapore.

In 2020, he was charged in the US over the possession of explicit visuals of minors and the act of physical grooming offences on children. He pleaded guilty and was sentenced to six years in prison before eventually being deported back to Singapore last year.

He is also facing charges under the Enlistment Act for avoiding National Service obligations.

The Saturday’s assault at the cosplay event also revived memories of a separate 2015 incident when Yee was slapped outside the State Courts by another member of the public. That offender was jailed after the court ruled that vigilante behaviour couldn’t be accepted, regardless of personal anger.

Public outrage still has legal limits

The Suntec incident showed how online hostility can spill into real-life confrontations, especially around figures who attract strong public reactions.

Convention organisers today are also dealing with a different kind of pressure. Fan communities increasingly expect event spaces to feel safe, especially at gatherings involving younger attendees and families.

Still, anger alone doesn’t justify violence. Once a confrontation turns physical, the issue changes from public opinion to criminal behaviour. That distinction remains important, even in emotionally charged cases.

This article (Amos Yee gets attacked by teen at Suntec City anime convention) first appeared on The Independent Singapore News.

SINGAPORE, May 9 — A teenage cosplayer was arrested after getting into a scuffle with convicted child sex offender Amos Yee at an anime convention in Suntec Singapore yesterday.

The police said they were alerted to the incident at the Suntec Singapore Convention and Exhibition Centre at about 2.15pm, according to the Straits Times.

Officers established that an 18‑year‑old boy had assaulted a 27‑year‑old man who suffered minor injuries, and they later arrested the teenager for causing public nuisance.

Yee, who was jailed in the United States in 2021 for grooming and sexually exploiting a minor before returning to Singapore, posted on X that he had “just been attacked in the anime convention” and shared a photo showing a bloodied lip.

Videos circulating online showed a cosplayer dressed as Yuji Itadori from the anime Jujutsu Kaisen punching, kicking and stomping on a man outside the Doujin Market 2026 halls.

The incident occurred at about 12.30pm, according to eventgoers, in a report by Mothership.

The footage showed the attacker briefly walking away before returning to leap onto the man and elbow him while he was curled on the ground.

Another attendee then pulled the attacker aside as the man on the ground held his head and later walked away.

The alleged attacker later claimed on Instagram that he saw Yee “try to molest someone” and confronted him.

He said he attempted to remove Yee from the area but alleged that Yee attacked him first, prompting him to retaliate in what he described as self‑defence.

Doujin Market, also known as Doujima, is being held at halls 403 to 405 from today to tomorrow.

Yee had posted on X a day earlier that he planned to attend the convention.

The organisers said on Instagram yesterday that they had cancelled the ticket of “a known problematic influencer” and were working to bar him from all future events.

They said they took “the safety of everyone at our convention very seriously”.

Police investigations are ongoing.