Nicki Minaj has been removed as a defendant in the sexual assault lawsuit against her husband, Kenneth Petty.
Legal Affairs and Trials with Meghann Cuniff is reporting that Jennifer Hough has amended the caption to leave Petty as the sole defendant, though Minaj is still prominently featured in the suit. Petty was found guilty in 1995 of attempting to rape Hough the year prior.
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Hough has accused Minaj of making threats against her in an attempt to get her to recant her statements about Petty.
However, Petty’s attorneys have maintained that Hough is simply trying to embarrass both Petty and Minaj and doing so because of Minaj’s high celebrity profile.
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“Plaintiff publicly filed the unnecessary sixteen ‘supplemental’ Exhibits with her letter motion, fourteen of which concerned Mr. Petty’s arrest in 1994,” attorney Steven D. Isser wrote. Plaintiff and her counsel then gave interviews to the media and made numerous posts on social media concerning the Exhibits and the proposed Second Amended Complaint.
“That it is not necessary to include such ‘evidence’ attached to a complaint, combined with Plaintiff and her counsel’s public statements concerning the ‘evidence’ and Proposed Amendment, demonstrates that Plaintiff’s true purpose in making the motion was in bad faith.”
Currently, Kenneth Petty is still under house arrest, which he was ordered to serve for 120 days back in September after threatening ex-Migos rapper Offset on Instagram Live. A judge found the threats to violate his probation.
“Mr. Petty was recorded on video making threatening remarks towards a specific individual while in the company of someone with a criminal record,” reads the order, which was signed off by Judge Michael W. Fitzgerald. “This recent violation conduct raises concerns over Mr. Petty’s willingness to comply with the Court’s orders.”
The order continues: “As such, the Probation Officer believes placement in the Location Monitoring Program will effectively allow for closer monitoring of Mr. Petty’s activities, limit his movements, provide a sanction for his non-compliance, and hopefully encourage him to reflect upon and reevaluate his current status in the community.”
The document also notes that “the supervisee and defense counsel consent to modification and waive a personal appearance before the Court,” meaning Petty didn’t try to fight the order.
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The 45-year-old was given three years probation and one year on house detention in July 2022 after failing to register as a sex offender in California, where he and Nicki moved in 2019 shortly before getting married.
His sex offender status stems from a 1995 conviction for the first-degree attempted rape of Hough, who was 16 at the time. Petty spent four years in prison.
