Nicki Minaj says husband never received summons for harassment lawsuit
Minaj claims that the summons was issued to a person that does not match the description of Kenneth Perry. The two are being sued for harassment by Jennifer Hough.
Nicki Minaj and husband Kenneth Petty are facing a $20 million default judgement after failing to respond to a harassment lawsuit against them from Jennifer Hough. Minaj has stated that it was not her intent to purposely ignore the lawsuit.
In court documents from Oct. 15, the Grammy-winning rapper noted that the process server provided the summons to a “Black male, 40-years-old, 200 lbs., with black hair and brown eyes,” as reported by Complex. Minaj claims that her husband does not match that description.
“In fact, my husband is approximately 5-foot-9 and weighs no more than 175 pounds,” Minaj said. “Further, there is no person who resides in our house or who was present there on September 15, 2021, who fits the description contained in the affidavit of service.”
Petty, who married Minaj in Oct. 2019, was convicted of sexually assaulting Hough in 1994 when she was 16. Hough alleges in her lawsuit that Minaj and Petty have been harassing her and sending her bribes to get her to recant her story against Petty, who served four years in prison.
Hough is suing the couple over witness intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment.
After Hough issued the lawsuit, Minaj and Petty failed to respond, leading to the couple now facing a $20 million default judgement. According to Oct. 15 court document, Minaj said that her failure to respond was “not willful,” as reported by Complex. The documents state the Minaj indicated that attorney Judd Burstein was recommended to her on Sept. 22, and that she had a Zoom meeting with him the following day. She believed Burstein was formally retained.
However, Minaj said that by Oct. 12, she learned that Burstein had not be formally retained as her legal representation, stating that her manager “had not understood” that Minaj approved hiring him. By that evening, Minaj was able to sort things out with a phone call to Burstein.
“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 said.
Burstein reached out to Hough’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, and asked for the default judgement to be removed and an extension be granted for Minaj and Petty to respond to the lawsuit. Blackburn stated that he refused to grant the extension. “I said NO!” Blackburn said. “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.”
Burstein is known for representing high-profile clients, including former boxer Oscar De La Hoya.
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