A woman says rapper Nicki Minaj’s husband raped her when the two were teenagers in Queens more than 20 years ago, and then the couple harassed her and tried to intimidate her into recanting, according to a new lawsuit.
Woman accuses Nicki Minaj’s husband of rape, says partner harassed her in lawsuit
Jennifer Hough says in her Brooklyn federal lawsuit that she was raped by Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, in 1994 after she encountered him while waiting for a school bus in Jamaica.
Petty allegedly approached her at the bus stop, then pulled out a knife, put it in her back and took her to a nearby house, where he raped her, according to the lawsuit.
After the alleged rape, he got off Hough and stood in front of a mirror while saying, “I am the man.
I am the man,” the lawsuit says.
Petty was arrested at the time and ended up accepting a plea deal, serving more than four years behind bars on the attempted rape charge, The New York Times reported.
Hough says in her lawsuit that she suffered mental anguish for years after the attack, and then was attacked by Minaj when Petty was arrested in 2020 for failing to register as a sex offender in California for her case.
Minaj called Hough on the phone and offered to “help” with her situation, saying she could take her and her family to California, according to the lawsuit, Hough refused.
The “Starships” rapper also allegedly offered to take her publicist to meet with Hough to draft a statement for her to retract the accusation, the lawsuit alleges, Hough says she refused.
Then, through a series of meetings, Minaj and his associates allegedly repeatedly offered cash bribes to Hough and her family members of up to $500,000 to get her to recant.
