Nicki Minaj’s husband’s accuser breaks her silence on ‘The Real’
Jennifer Hough, who Kenneth Petty was convicted of attempting to rape when they were both 16 years old, had her public say on Wednesday
In 1994, Jennifer Hough, then 16 years old, reported to the police that Kenneth Petty, also 16 at the time, had raped her at knifepoint after leading her into a home in Queens.
Petty was arrested and charged with first-degree rape. He subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted rape and served about four and a half years in prison, according to inmate records, per The New York Times.
Petty was also added to the sex offender registry and required to remain registered as a sex offender in every state where he lived. He recently pleaded guilty to failing to register in California, the state in which he resides with his wife, rap star Nicki Minaj, and their infant son.
On Wednesday, Hough appeared on the panel talk show, The Real. She recently filed a lawsuit against Petty and Minaj, claiming they have both harassed her to change her story about the assault.
During the interview, Hough wiped tears from her eyes and spoke softly in her responses, with her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, sitting at her side.
She explained to The Real co-hosts Adrienne Bailon and Garcelle Beauvais that she blamed herself for the incident, saying she’d spent her life “hiding within myself — living and surviving through insecurities, using them to protect myself. Thinking that if I don’t look a certain way, I won’t attract a certain type of attention. I’ve been like that my whole life.”
Blackburn said his client had been threatened by an associate of the rapstress and her husband, making it clear, “We would not be here but for the actions of Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj.”
Early Tuesday, the show shared a promo for the interview on Twitter, writing, “In an exclusive interview, Jennifer Hough opens up about the details surrounding her lawsuit against Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty.”
Fans of the rap star have pushed back against the appearance.
“So they trying to sway the court of public opinion for a civil suit. This is not criminal. Just know they are desperately trying to get a reaction out of Nicki. I don’t think they have proof and now they are trying to create it. That girl stated that Kenny nor Nicki contacted her,” one fan wrote.
As previously reported, in new legal docs obtained by TMZ, Hough accuses Minaj and Petty of directly and indirectly threatening and harassing her. She also claims Minaj attempted to bribe her to stop her from discussing the incident with Petty.
After Hough declined to come to California to recant her story, she says she and her family “suffered an onslaught of harassing calls and unsolicited visits.”
Minaj also allegedly had her associates reach out to Hough’s brother and offer a $500K payment in exchange for his sister’s cooperation.
Minaj made headlines last week after tweeting about her COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy. The rapper posted a story about her “cousin’s friend” in her native Trinidad, who she claimed had impotency issues after being vaccinated.
The claim resonated throughout the media for an entire week and prompted a response from the health minister of the island nation, who declared his office “wasted so much time” probing Minaj’s swollen testicles claim, noting there has been “absolutely no reported such side effect or adverse event.”
“But her tweet certainly did not help because people like her are social influencers and they do carry some sway,” he said last Wednesday, according to CNC3. “So it certainly didn’t help, and will make our job a little harder, which we don’t need right now.”
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