Nicki Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty, maintains his innocence.
According to court documents reviewed by Complex, the 43-year-old Queens native admitted to having sex with Jennifer Hough in 1994, but insists their encounter was completely consensual.
“I never raped the Plaintiff and I deny her accusations of rape contained in the Amended Complaint,” he said, per the court filing. “I also deny all of Plaintiff’s allegations in the Amended Complaint that I committed any improper conduct, sexual abuse and/or sexual assault. The sexual encounter between Plaintiff and I, which occurred 27 years ago, was consensual and Plaintiff was a willing participant. I did not force Plaintiff into a house, I did not force Plaintiff to have sex with me and I did not sexually or physically assault Plaintiff in any way. Nor did I ever threaten Plaintiff.”
Petty spent four years behind bars after pleading guilty to attempted rape charges stemming from Hough’s allegations; however, he told the court he took the plea out of fear.
“I pled guilty to attempted rape, despite my innocence, because I was a scared 16 year old kid and was told that my sentence would be 20 years to life if I did not plead guilty to attempted rape,” he continued.
Hough filed a civil lawsuit against Petty and Minaj earlier this year, claiming she was harassed and threatened by the couple’s associates after refusing to recant her rape allegations. Hough said she and her family were offered tens of thousands of dollars to publicly walk back the claims, but after they rejected the offer, they were subjected to direct and indirect threats from the couple’s camp.
During an interview on The Real, Hough recalled an alleged phone conversation she had with Nicki in March 2020.
“She called me and she said that she got word that I was willing to help them out in the situation. I didn’t understand what she was referring to. She offered to fly me and my family to L.A. I turned it down and I told her, woman to woman, ‘This happened.’ I haven’t talked to her since.”
Hough’s attorney, Tyrone A. Blackburn, addressed Petty’s latest claims in a statement to XXL magazine.
“A willing participant would not run 20 blocks to school after a sexual encounter and tell the school security/police that she was raped,” Blackburn told the outlet. “If Petty believed Ms. Hough was a willing participant he should have never plead guilty to attempted rape.”
