Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, were named defendants in a lawsuit brought by Jennifer Hough, the woman who attacked Petty in 1994 when they were both 16, the New York Times reported. The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in east New York City, alleges a pattern of harassment by Minaj and Petty, including contacting Hough directly, offering large sums of money through agents, and sending people to their home who eventually announced she was moving out of her home in August 2020.
Hough also alleges sexual assault and assault by Petty in connection with the 1994 incident. She is also suing Minaj and Petty for emotional distress, harassment and intimidation of witnesses. Pitchfork reached out to Nicki Minaj’s representatives for comments and further information. Kenneth Petty’s attorneys declined to comment.
Last March, The Daily Beast published a report in which Hough (referred to only as Jennifer) described much of her alleged experience with Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty. The allegations made in the report are consistent with what is alleged in the lawsuit.
In 1995, Kenneth Petty was convicted of attempted first degree rape, second degree assault, second degree illegal detention, and criminal gun possession, all of which stemmed from the Hough attack. Petty had to register as a sex offender. Later, in 2006, Petty pleaded guilty to manslaughter in an independent case. After serving seven years of a ten-year prison sentence, he was released from prison in 2013 on custodial release.
In March 2020, Petty was charged with not registering as a sex offender in California after moving from New York to the West Coast in 2019. Earlier this month it was reported that he struck a plea deal and pleaded guilty to failing once to register as a sex offender. His conviction on the matter has not yet been determined.
If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, we encourage you to seek support:
RAINN National Hotline for Sexual Assault
http://www.rainn.org
1 800 656 HOPE (4673)
Line of crisis text
http://www.facebook.com/crisistextline (chat support)
SMS: Text “HERE” to 741-741
