The woman who was sexually assaulted by Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, has filed a lawsuit against both Minaj and Petty, accusing the couple of harassment and witness intimidation.
TMZ reports that Jennifer Hough says Minaj and Petty “have directly and indirectly harassed her and threatened her to not speak about the incident.”
The assault occurred in September 1994, when both Hough and Petty were 16 years old and living in South Jamaica, Queens. According to a complaint filed at the time, the victim had been walking to school when Petty came up behind her, pressing an object against her back and instructed her to “keep walking.” The two eventually arrived at Petty’s residence, where he allegedly forced her upstairs and began to rape her at knifepoint before she was able to strike him with a bottle and escape. Jennifer immediately reported the incident to her school and then went to a local hospital.
Petty was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree, and served four years in prison. However, to this day, he maintains his innocence, saying he had only spoken to Jennifer that day and returned home to sleep. In court, Petty’s parents claimed that their son and Jennifer had been dating, which Jennifer said was untrue.
In 2019, Petty was arrested in California for failing to register as a sex offender. While the state’s charges against him were later dismissed, Petty faced similar federal charges and recently accepted a plea deal. Immediately following his arrest, Hough says she was harassed, bribed, and/ intimidated by Minaj, Petty, and their associates as they pressured Hough to recant her testimony. At one point, Hough claims that she was offered $500,000 by Minaj in exchange for a statement recanting her rape allegations against Petty. Hough detailed these accusations in an interview with The Daily Beast earlier this year.
Hough is suing Minaj and Petty for intentional infliction of emotional distress, harassment, and witness intimidation. She is also suing Petty for sexual assault related to the 1995 conviction.
Consequence has reached out to Minaj’s representatives for comment.
