Nicki Minaj and husband Kenneth Petty accused of harassing his rape victim
5 March 2021, 13:07 | Updated: 5 March 2021, 14:42
A new report claims the rapper and her husband Kenneth Petty attempted to silence his assault victim.
Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty have been accused of trying to silence his sexual assault victim.
Petty, 42, was convicted of attempted first-degree rape in 1995 in New York after a woman accused him of sexually assaulting her the previous year, when they were both 16 years old.
In March of last year, Petty was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in Los Angeles after relocating. If convicted, he faces up to ten years in prison. He faces trial in June.
In a new interview with the Daily Beast, the victim - using only her first name, Jennifer - came forward with allegations claiming associates of Minaj, 38, and Petty have been harassing her since his recent arrest and offered her hundreds of thousands of dollars to recant her story.
Minaj, who married Petty at the end of 2019, has previously defended her husband and claimed his accuser had lied about the assault, and had already tried to recant her statement to police back in 1995.
However, Jennifer has insisted she never considering taking back her claims, alleging instead that people close to the couple have harassed her to do so.
Jennifer, who grew up in South Jamaica, Queens, the same area as Petty and Minaj, claims she's moved three times out of fear for her safety. She says she's spoken with U.S. Marshals, who reportedly told her an investigation with evidence is underway.
One specific example of the alleged harassment involves a man named Barry, who was allegedly childhood friends with Jennifer's brother. She claimed he reached out to her after Petty's 2020 arrest and said Minaj personally wanted to have a conversation with her.
Nicki allegedly offered Jennifer help with "anything you need", even offering to fly her out to Los Angeles. "Listen. I just need you to know, woman to woman, this really happened,” Jennifer reportedly replied.
Jennifer says this was the last time she spoke with Minaj. However, shortly after, Barry allegedly urged Jennifer to recant her rape allegation, and, as per the report, showed up outside her house with a bribe of $20,000.
“For people out in the world to know that you can’t do stuff like this and get away with it. And for women who have been abused, for women who have been assaulted, for them to not live in fear of speaking their truth. No matter who the person is,” Jennifer said in the report.
Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty are yet to publicly respond to the allegations.
