Nicki Minaj married former flame Kenneth Petty in October 2019 fully aware of his controversial criminal past. Now, it’s coming back to haunt them. In August, Petty’s sexual assault victim, Jennifer Hough, and her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, filed a lawsuit against Petty and his famous wife for harassment and an alleged bribery attempt.
The couple apparently didn’t respond to the court papers in a timely fashion, so Hough’s attorney asked the court for a $15 million default judgment earlier this month. But according to Nicki Minaj, it was an “innocent mistake.” In documents observed by Complex, Nicki claims their failure to respond was “not willful.”
The papers reportedly state attorney Judd Burstein was recommended to Nicki Minaj on September 22, and the two had a conversation via Zoom the following day that ended with Nicki believing she’d hired Burstein. But her manager “had not understood” Nicki had approved Burstein to be her lawyer. Therefore, he was never formally retained.
As Nicki explained in the documents, “My failure to respond to the complaint was the product of an innocent mistake, and I ask the court to excuse the delay so that I can defend what I believe to be an entirely frivolous case which plaintiff’s counsel has brought against me in an effort to use my name to generate publicity for himself.”
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Nicki also claims Pettty was never served with a copy of the summons and complaint. She says the process server in question is reported as having served such documents to a “Black male, 40 years old, 200 lbs.” with black hair and brown eyes.
But Nicki contests, “My husband is approximately 5’9’’ tall and weighs no more than 175 pounds. Further, there is no person who resides in our house or who was present there on September 15, 2021, who fits the description contained in the affidavit of service.” Burstein is hoping to secure a a motion that will dismiss the amended complaint.
Hough claimed Petty sexually assaulted her in 1994 when they were both 16. A year later, he was convicted and served roughly four years in a New York state prison. After Petty was released, he was convicted of first-degree manslaughter and served another seven years behind bars.
During an interview with The Real,Hough alleged Nicki’s associates attempted to pay her a large sum of cash in exchange for her cooperation and continually harassed her.
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“[They were] sending people to negotiate numbers as far as money is concerned with family members, and Nicki is the one who personally reached out to me in regard to helping her, helping them in this situation,” she explained. “And then the threats that I received because I kept saying no to every offer, to every suggestion.
“The last incident was when one of their associates put $20,000 on my lap, and I still kept saying no. The last message I received was that I should have taken the money ’cause they’re going to take that money to put on my head.”
Check out the clip below.
