Nicki Minaj, Husband Kenneth Petty Sued By His Sexual Assault Accuser

Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, are being sued by a woman who accused him of rape for allegedly harassing her to force her to recant her account.

The woman, now 43, alleged she was attacked at knifepoint as a 16-year-old in Queens, New York City, by Petty. He served four and a half years in prison after being arrested on suspicion of rape and being convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1995 and remains a registered sex offender in California.

In a civil lawsuit filed in New York Friday, she accused both Minaj and Petty of witness intimidation and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, as well as harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault and sexual harassment, The New York Times reported.

The woman alleged that Minaj offered her $500,000 via an intermediary in return for recanting her accusations against Petty.

After Petty was arrested in March 2020 for failure to register as a sex offender when he moved from New York to Los Angeles, the lawsuit claimed the woman was contacted by a childhood friend who acted as an intermediary between her and Minaj.

It further alleged that the friend gave Minaj the woman's number and that the artist called her that month to offer to fly her to Los Angeles or send her publicist to meet with her "to craft a statement recanting Plaintiff's rape charge." The alleged offer was declined, the lawsuit said.

"I need you to know woman to woman, that this happened," the woman allegedly told Minaj during their conversation, according to the lawsuit.

The suit further claimed that the woman and her family "suffered an onslaught of harassing calls and unsolicited visits" after rejecting the alleged offers.

The woman "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 read, as per The New York Times.

The lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, alleged that the woman is "currently living in isolation out of fear of retaliation."

Minaj and Petty, who share an 11-month-old son, have not yet responded to the lawsuit.

The accuser's attorney Tyrone Blackburn said in a statement to E! News that she "did the best she could" for many years to try "to move on with her life and away from the horrors of 1994." He added, "My client had no contact with, or any interest in coming after Mr. Petty or Ms. Minaj—they came after her. Now she fights back!"

In a 2019 episode of Minaj's Apple Music show "Queen Radio," the rapper defended her husband saying, "Because you’ve gotta cover your husband in prayer."

Minaj had claimed that Petty was wrongfully accused of attempted rape when he was 15 and that the victim had written a letter to the judge back then to recant her statement but allegedly changed her mind after learning that she could go to jail for 90 days.

"But white is right," the musician said at the time.

Petty's victim came forward to deny Minaj's statements, clarifying that while her mom is white, her father is Black. She also said that they were both 16 when the incident happened and stressed that she never submitted a letter recanting her account. Instead, Minaj and Petty's camp had been allegedly harassing her to do so.

"I’m hoping for the truth to come out, and whatever comes from that truth, to let it be," the victim, who used only her first name Jennifer, told The Daily Beast in March. "After everything that has happened, it’s like, these people were willing to sacrifice me so this guy could remain in the public eye. I feel like my family was willing to sacrifice me."