The social mediaverse isn’t exactly feeling Nicki Minaj’s choice for a new boo

Nicki Minaj turned up for her birthday by celebrating it in the Caribbean with her new boyfriend, but there are things in his past that are spurring shade on social media

Jay Scott Smith

Dec 11, 2018

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Nicki Minaj celebrated her 36th birthday this past weekend in Turks and Caicos and used the occasion to introduce the world to her new man, Kenneth “Zoo” Petty.

Unfortunately for Nicki, the reaction was not what she expected as it turns out that Petty is a registered sex offender in New York. Petty, 40, is a level two registered sex offender, which means he’s considered a “moderate risk of repeat offense” and will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

According to online records from the New York Division of Criminal Justice Services, Petty was convicted in April 1995 of attempted rape in the first degree stemming from a September 1994 incident that involving a 16-year-old girl.

He was sentenced to 18 months to 4½ years in prison. After being released, Petty was involved in the 2002 shooting death of a man named Lamont Robinson.

According to The Blast, he later pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in March 2006 and served seven years in prison. He had been on supervised release for five years until this past May.

On Sunday, Nicki shared two photos — including one that features her posing with her leg wrapped around Petty— along with a caption quoting lyrics from Adele’s 2015 hit, “Hello.”

“Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happens?…it’s no secret…that the both of us…are running out of time,” the caption said.

View this post on Instagram

Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happens?… it’s no secret… that the both of us… are running out of time…???♥️

A post shared by Barbie® (@nickiminaj) on Dec 9, 2018 at 4:46pm PST

But the comment section went decidedly against her to the point where Nicki disabled the comments on the post.

Nicki responded to a fan in the comments – something that is not recommended – defending Petty, claiming that he was in a relationship with the girl that he was convicted of attempting to assault – forgetting that sexual assault often occurs in relationships.

“He was 15, she was 16 in a relationship. But go awf Internet. Y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life. Thank you boo.”

Fans also pointed out that Petty is the latest in a series of men accused of sex crimes that Nicki has defended publicly. Her 40-year-old brother, Jelani Maraj, was found guilty in November 2017 of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl.

Prior to his current federal racketeering trial, Nicki also supported Tekashi 6ix9ine who was sentenced to just four years of probation in October for his involvement in a sexually explicit video depicting the rape of a 13-year-old girl. Something that was not lost on social media.

I hate to say it, but after #NickiMinaj defended her brother (sex offender) and 6ix9ine (sex offender), I can’t honestly say I’m surprised to hear she’s now defending her new boyfriend- another sex offender. It’s really, really sad.

— Steacy Curry ? (@SteacyC) December 7, 2018