The lawyer representing Kenneth Petty’s victim slams Nicki Minaj for victim-shaming Jennifer Hough.
Hough is pushing forward with her lawsuit against Minaj and Petty for harassing her and discrediting claims that he raped her in 1994. On Thursday, TMZ claimed that newly “filed legal docs” showed that the rapper’s attorneys denied Hough was being taunted by the Petty’s to get her to change her story. However, Hough’s lawyers denied that the supposed motion reported by TMZ was ever actually filed.
“After the hearing yesterday, it is telling that TMZ would report something that did not occur, as opposed to the hearing that did occur that permits Ms. Hough to continue pursuing the default against Minaj,” the attorneys wrote in a statement to The Daily Beast. With this latest loss in court, Minaj must now appear at a hearing on January 20th to defend herself.
Petty served several years in prison in the 90s after being convicted in New York of one count of attempted rape in the first-degree, second-degree assault, second-degree unlawful imprisonment, and criminal possession of a weapon. Hough was 16-years-old when Petty attacked her. He has been required to register as a sex offender since his release. After Petty was arrested last year for failing to register as a sex offender in California, Hough has maintained that the couple has stalked her and her family. She says that they want her to recount her original rape claim so that Mr. Petty can be removed from the registry.
Hough’s attorneys said that TMZ did not reach out to them before publishing their story about the false motion. Their statement says there is “no excuse” for TMZ to post incorrect information when the civil case filings can be easily accessed online.
“We do not support any form of bullying, perpetuating falsehoods, or otherwise victim-shaming,” Hough’s lawyers said.
