Though Jennifer Hough’s harassment lawsuit against Nicki Minaj has been dropped, the case is far from over, as it now moves to California.
Attorneys representing Hough in the high-profile case say the only reason that the complaint was dismissed against Minaj in New York was that they are planning to file the same lawsuit against the rapper in a California court.
Last year, Hough sued the “Super Bass” rapper and her husband, Kenneth Petty, claiming that they both harassed her to recant claims that Petty raped her in the ’90s. She says that Minaj offered her a lump sum of money to retract her story and even bribed her family. When she voluntarily dropped the case last week without explanation, rumors began to swirl that a settlement had been reached. However, lawyers for Minaj call the move a ploy to avoid possible sanctions they faced for filing supposed baseless claims.
“As usual, they have decided to adopt a tactic without bothering to research the law,” said Judd Burstein, lead counsel for Nicki Minaj. He explained that re-filing the lawsuit in another jurisdiction will only result in sanctions from another court.
Tyrone Blackburne, Hough’s attorney, said the case would be re-filed with “different causes of action.”
Both Minaj and Petty have vehemently denied Hough’s claims.
