Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, was sentenced earlier this week for failing to register as a sex offender in the state of California. Petty was able to avoid jail time but will have to complete one year of home confinement, three years of probation and pay a $55,000 fine before he can put the case behind him.
Shortly after Petty received his sentence, Nicki posted a pair of wholesome family photos to her Instagram account as if to show her 197 million followers they’re going to be alright. The photos included their nearly 2-year-old son, who she calls “Papa Bear,” sitting on Petty’s shoulder. Nicki didn’t share much in the caption aside from a few emojis.
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Nicki Minaj has been a fierce defender of her husband since they rekindled their romance in 2018. Once they started dating, it was soon brought to the public’s attention he served multiple years in prison on a few different charges, including first-degree attempted rape and first-degree manslaughter.
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“He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship,” she commented on Instagram at the time. “But go awf, Internet. y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t run ya’ll own life. Thank you boo.”
But things grew increasingly hairy once the alleged attempted rape victim, Jennifer Hough, sued the couple in 2021 for intentional infliction of emotional distress, harassment and witness intimidation. Hough claimed she’d been harassed and threatened for over three years in an attempt to get her to recant her original statements.
Nicki adamantly denied the allegations last December — specifically, her claim she was forced to change her phone number due to the alleged harassment from Nicki. According to Nicki’s attorney, Hough sent Nicki a text in August 2020 — two months after she supposedly blocked her — that read, “US Marshals are asking questions!!! They showed up at my house.” Her legal team said that was proof Hough didn’t actually hide her number from Nicki out of fear and instead, showed she wanted an easy payout from the wealthy rapper.
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Nicki Minaj also accused Hough’s attorney Tyrone Blackburn of being a “clout chaser”after he sought a $15 million judgment for the couple’s failure to respond to the lawsuit. In October 2021, legal documents showing attorney Judd Burstein was recommended to Nicki a month prior 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, so he was never formally retained.
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“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.”
Nicki Minaj Accuses Husband's Sexual Assault Victim's Lawyer Of Clout Chasing
Nicki claimed Petty was never served with a copy of the summons and complaint. She added the process server in question was reported as having served such documents to a “Black male, 40 years old, 200 lbs.” with black hair and brown eyes.
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“My husband is approximately 5’9’’ tall and weighs no more than 175 pounds,” Nicki continued. “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.”
