Nicki Minaj and husband sued by his attempted rape victim
14 August 2021, 07:38 | Updated: 14 August 2021, 11:41
Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty have been sued by the woman he was found guilty of attempting to rape in 1994.
The victim, now 43, claimed Petty raped her after attacking her at knifepoint as a 16-year-old in Queens, New York City.
He was arrested on suspicion of rape and later pleaded guilty to attempted rape and served four-and-a-half years in prison.
The woman has now filed a lawsuit accusing the couple, who share an 11-month-old son, of harassing and intimidating her into dropping the story.
It alleges that Minaj, 38, contacted the victim's family and lied to her large social media following about the incident.
The lawsuit, which is seeking unspecified damages, claims the chart-topping rapper offered her $500,000 (£360,000) to recant her side of the story about 43-year-old Petty.
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After he was arrested in March 2020 for failing to register as a sex offender in California, it is alleged the victim was contacted by a childhood friend who acted as an intermediary between her and Minaj.
He gave the musician the woman's number and it is claimed Minaj then called her and offered to fly her and her family to Los Angeles to see if she could "help" her, which the woman said she declined.
She also turned down Minaj's offer to have her publicist draft a statement dropping the rape allegation, the lawsuit states.
During her conversation with the hip hop star, the accuser is said to have told her: "I need you to know woman to woman, that this happened."
Within days of the conversation, it is claimed the woman and her family "suffered an onslaught of harassing calls and unsolicited visits".
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It is then said the accuser's brother called her and stated two people contacted a family member saying Minaj had offered half a million dollars if she wrote a letter recanting her rape allegation against Petty.
The woman is said to have hung up and been left "distraught".
It is also claimed there was a $20,000 (£14,000) cash offer and Minaj was willing to send the woman's daughter a video message for her 16th birthday "as a bonus".
The lawsuit says the woman has not worked since May 2020 "due to severe depression, paranoia, constant moving, harassment and threats" from Minaj, Petty and their associates.
She is currently living in isolation in Florida out of fear of retaliation, it states.
Minaj's legal team is yet to respond.
