When Nicki Minaj first announced her marriage to Kenneth Petty, Jennifer Hough faced an overwhelming amount of harassment from Minaj’s fan base, nicknamed, “Barbz.” Hough was afraid of this exact scenario happening to her when she first heard of their nuptials. “I was so afraid of being found out,” she told the cast of “The Real” (via Ok!The actress cried and held back her tears. “I was so afraid of being known as the person he violated and I didn’t want that. You know, it’s Nicki Minaj, you know I didn’t want that to reflect on my children.”
The cyberbullying became so bad, Hough moved three times in 2020 “out of fear for her safety,” and was separated from her then 22-year-old daughter, per theDaily Beast. Hough was not only harassed by fans. She claimed to “The Real” hosts that supposed associates of Minaj repeatedly offered her money in exchange for a retraction about Petty. Hough claimed that Minaj’s associate threatened her after she accepted the last offer.
Hough told “The Real” hosts that she’s really tired of being in a constant state of fear for her and her daughter’s lives, and that’s why she decided to speak out. “I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation have put me in a different type of fear at my age now and it was wrong and I don’t wanna be afraid anymore. So the only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up.”