Nicki Minaj, husband Kenneth Petty allegedly harass rape accuser; sued

American rapper Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, are facing a lawsuit by a woman who accused Petty of rape back in 1994 in New York, global news reports claim.

On Friday, the woman, identified as Jennifer Hough, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Eastern New York and alleged that Petty 'intimidated' and 'harassed... not to speak out concerning the rape she experienced at the hands of Defendant Petty'.

The woman also accused Minaj also 'threatened' to recant her legitimate claim that 'Defendant Petty raped her'.

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In the court documents, Hough has reportedly accused the couple of 'witness intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault, and sexual harassment'.

The lawsuit, obtained by a global news organisation, shows a detailed report on how back in September of 1994, when Hough and Petty were both 16 and living in Jamaica, Queens (New York), she ran into him on her way to school when he later held her at knifepoint, led her into a nearby house and raped her.

Petty was arrested that day for first-degree rape and later pleaded guilty to attempted rape, says the same report. He was sentenced to 18 to 54 months in prison.

On February 25 last year, Petty was charged for failing to register as a sex offender, which is a requirement under the 2006 Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA).

He was later added to the California Megan’s Law database, which tracks sex offenders in the state of California, where Petty and Minaj reside with their son, whom the rapper gave birth to last year.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office announced in March 2020 that the charges were dropped against Petty, but if he were to be convicted of the same felony charge, he would face up to 10 years in prison, which is the statutory maximum.

The New York State department has labelled Petty as a level-two sex offender, meaning it deems him as a moderate risk to reoffend, based on the 1994 attempted rape conviction.

Hough recounts the years in her lawsuit following the alleged rape, claiming she felt “mentally and emotionally destroyed” and moved around a lot out of fear of returning to New York. In 2018, a sudden surge in interest over her identity was generated following Minaj’s viral comments about the case.

In a 2018 Instagram post, Minaj shot back at those who continued to criticize Petty’s allegedly criminal past. “He was 15, she was 16… in a relationship. But go awf Internet.”

In a 2019 episode of Minaj’s Queen Radio show on Apple Music, she told her fans, “You’ve gotta cover your husband in prayer” before saying that he was wrongfully accused of rape by Hough, whom she said wrote a letter recanting her statement, which Hough denies.

“But white is right,” Minaj said later on in the episode. But the court filing states that Hough is biracial.

In 2020, shortly after Petty was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender, the suit alleges that Hough’s brother told her over the phone that “two people reached out to a family member stating an offer of $500,000.00 from Defendant Minaj if Plaintiff wrote a letter recanting her rape claim against Defendant Petty.”

Hough’s childhood friend, who acted as a liasion between the married couple and Hough, also presented another $20,000 from Minaj, who proposed to “send birthday videos to Plaintiff’s Daughter for her sweet 16 as a bonus” if she would sign an already prepared recanted statement.

“Plaintiff has not worked since May of 2020 due to severe depression, paranoia, constant moving, harassment, and threats from the Defendants and their associates. She is currently living in isolation out of fear of retaliation,” the lawsuit reportedly states.