THE woman who accused Nicki Minaj’s husband of rape gave her first TV interview about the brutal attack.
Jennifer Hough told The Real hosts “I’m tired of being afraid” before accusing the rapper and husband Kenneth Petty of trying to silence her.
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Hough is at the center of a lawsuit against Minaj, 38, and Petty, 43, accusing them of harassment and intimidation.
“I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation put me in a different type of fear at my age, and it was wrong,” Hough spoke to Garcelle Beauvais, Adrienne Houghton.
“The only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up.”
Hough alleged that the Starships hitmaker reached out to her “in regards to helping her, helping them in this situation,” but claimed that after declining the offers she started to get “threats.”
The woman claimed that at one point she was offered $20,000 by one of the couple’s associates to stay quiet.
ALLEGED THREATS
“And I still kept saying no. The last message I received was that I should have taken the money because they’re going to use that money to put on my head.”
Petty was convicted of attempted first-degree rape in April 1995 for the 1994 assault. Petty spent four years in prison.
She was tearful when she described the day the rape took place.
Hough, then 16 years old, was confronted by Petty at a bus stop. He placed an object in her back, and forced Hough into a nearby residence.
“I knew what he wanted,” Hough claimed. “He pushed me down on the bed, we wrestled for my clothes.”
After the rape, Hough said Petty got up and admired himself in the mirror saying “I’m the man, I’m the man.”
When Petty’s conviction was made public years later, Minaj claimed that Hough and Petty were in a relationship at the time of the incident, and that he was 15.
Asked how the rapper’s claims made her feel, Hough told Houghton, “It was like reliving it again because it was a lie, it wasn’t true, we both were 16, we were never in a relationship. I just felt woman to woman that was wrong of (Minaj).”
Hough’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York on August 13, accuses the couple witness intimidation, emotional distress, harassment, assault and battery.
It reads: “As a direct result of the actions of Defendant Minaj and Defendant Petty, [Hough] has been traumatized her entire life.
“Plaintiff has moved to multiple states to avoid intimidation and harassment by Defendant Minaj, Defendant, and their allies, legal teams, and fans.”
‘WRONGLY ACCUSED’
Hough claimedMinaj, used “her celebrity platform” to “bash” Hough.
She gave an example where she alleges that Minaj told a radio station in 2019 that Petty was “wrongly accused.”
Hough claims that Petty violated his plea deal when he allegedly directly and indirectly “threatened” her while telling her “not to speak out” about the rape accusation.
It also claims that members of Hough’s family allegedly began receiving contact from people claiming to be connected with Minaj and Petty after Petty was arrested last year for failing to register as a sex offender in California.
Hough alleges that Minaj intimidated, threatened, and harassed Hough in the suit.
She claims that Minaj called her in March 2020, offering to fly Hough to Los Angeles or to send her publicist to Hough so that she could “craft a statement recanting Plaintiff’s rape charge.”
ALLEGED BRIBERY
Hough claims she told Minaj, “I need you to know woman to woman, that this happened,” and that she denied the offer.
The 10-time Grammy nominee also publicly posted a defense of her husband in 2018, the suit claims, allegedly writing, “Kenny was 15, she was 16 and, in a relationship, but go awf Internet.”
Hough claims that the statement is false, saying she was “never” in a relations with Petty and “simply knew him from the neighborhood.”
Such claims, Hough says, are harassment.
In the suit, Hough also alleges that Minaj tried to “bribe” her with $20,000, offering to send “happy birthday videos to [Hough’s] Daughter for her sweet 16 as a bonus.”
Hough “has not worked since May of 2020 due to severe depression, paranoia, constant moving, harassment and threats from the defendants and their associates,” the lawsuit says. “She is currently living in isolation out of fear of retaliation.”
Minaj and Petty, who work in the music business, were married in Oct 2019 and welcomed their son in September 2020.
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