Nicki Minaj, husband face $20M default judgment after failing to respond to lawsuit
Jennifer Hough is suing Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty for harassment.
The plot thickens in Jennifer Hough’s lawsuit against Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty. Minaj and Perry failed to respond to the suit and a request for a $20 million default judgment has been made as a result.
Minaj hired attorney Judd Burstein to attempt to request an extension to respond to the suit. Burstein sent an email to Hough’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, to withdraw the petition for the $20 million default judgment and asked for more time for the couple to respond, according to The Daily Beast.
“I said NO!” Blackburn told The Daily Beast. “I told him to prepare his opposition to my request for default judgment and explain to the court why his client and her husband believe they’re both above the law.”
In Minaj’s filing, she claimed the delay in responding was an innocent mistake.
“My failure to respond to the complaint was the product of an innocent mistake, and I ask the court to excuse the delay so that I can defend what I believe to be an entirely frivolous case which plaintiff’s counsel has brought against me in an effort to use my name to generate publicity for himself,” Minaj is quoted in the legal briefs.
Petty, who married the Grammy-winning rapper in 2019, was convicted of attempted first-degree attempted rape in 1995. Hough, who was 16 at the time of the assault, stated that she was being harassed and threatened by Petty and Minaj. Hough indicated that Minaj made attempts to bribe her to recant her story.
After alleged extensive attempts at bribery and subsequent threats after refusal, Hough filed suit against both Minaj and Petty, accusing the couple of “witness intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault, and sexual harassment,” as reported by Rolling Stone.
This past September, Hough discussed Petty and Minaj on an episode of daytime talk show, The Real. Not only did she speak about the lawsuit, but about the lasting effects of the assault, saying she 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.”
Petty served over four years in prison and had to register as a sex offender. He recently pleaded guilty after being charged with failing to register as a level 2 sex offender in California when and Minaj moved to the state in 2020. His sentencing has been scheduled for Jan. 24, 2022 and he faces a maximum of 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised release.
Have you subscribed to the Grio podcasts, ‘Dear Culture’ or Acting Up? Download our newest episodes now!
TheGrio is now on Apple TV, Amazon Fire, and Roku. Download theGrio today!
More About:Music Entertainment
You Might Like
