Court Rejects $20 Million Default Judgement Request in Nicki Minaj Harassment Lawsuit

Nicki Minaj had a win in court yesterday after a federal court clerk ruled that she didn’t fail to respond to the lawsuit alleging she harassed and bribed the woman that accused her husband of rape.

In August, Jennifer Hough asked the court to declare Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty in “default” and award her $20 million for claims that she was subjected to a “relentless campaign of bribery, intimidation, harassment, and stalking” by the couple in order to get her to recant her claim.

According to Rolling Stone, the federal clerk for the Eastern District of New York refused Minaj’s motion yesterday, noting that “it appears” Minaj filed documents last week stating that she had finally hired a lawyer to represent her. Petty, on the other hand, “has not filed an answer or otherwise moved with respect to the complaint,” according to the clerk.

On October 15th, Minaj claimed in a sworn declaration filed that she felt she had successfully engaged her lawyer after chatting with him over Zoom in late September, but that a series of “innocent miscommunications” caused a delay in the payment of his retainer.

“My failure to respond to the complaint was the product of an innocent mistake, and I ask the court to excuse the delay so that I can defend what I believe to be an entirely frivolous case,” she wrote in her declaration. “I confirm the truth of those portions of defendant’s declaration concerning my role in her failure to secure my services promptly,” the lawyer, Judd Burstein wrote.

Despite this, Tyrone Blackburn, Hough’s lawyer, told Rolling Stone that he intends to continue to pursue a default judgment against Petty for the $20 million.

“It’s interesting that Kenneth Petty is currently in the Eastern District of New York suing the state of New York, but he has no respect for this proceeding and no respect for this judge to come forward and to answer for raping Jennifer Hough in 1994 and all the harassment he and his wife and his goons visited upon her since then,” Blackburn said.

According to Hough’s complaint, Minaj claimed during a radio interview in November 2019 that Petty had been “wrongly charged” and that his victim in the case had “written a letter recanting her statement.” The situation allegedly came to a head last spring when a childhood acquaintance posed as a liaison between Hough and Minaj, putting the two women in direct contact over the phone.

“During the call, Defendant Minaj stated that she heard plaintiff was willing to ‘help out’ their situation and stated that she would fly plaintiff and her family to Los Angeles. Plaintiff declined this offer.”

According to documents, Minaj allegedly “instructed her associates” to contact Hough’s brother a few days later offering $500,000 for a letter from Hough “recanting her rape claim.” The lawsuit states that Hough feared for her life and had to move to Florida from Atlanta because of more claims of harassment and intimidation.