Nicki Minaj and Husband Kenneth Pettyâs Campaign to Silence His Sexual Assault Victim (The Daily Beast)
Looks like she fits in pretty well at Fox News.
When youâre somebodyâs wife, youâve gotta be even more prayed up,â Nicki Minaj told her audience in a 2019 episode of her Apple Music show, Queen Radio. âBecause youâve gotta cover your husband in prayer.â
The rapper was responding to criticism sheâd received for marrying convicted sex offender Kenneth âZooâ Petty. Minaj went on to claim that Petty had been wrongfully accused of attempted rape at the age of 15, and that his victim had actually written a letter to the judge back then, in 1995, asking to recant her statementâonly to reverse course after she found out she could go to jail for 90 days. âBut white is right,â Minaj said.
But Pettyâs victim, who has come forward using only her first name, âJennifer,â is not white; her mother is white and her father is Black. Both she and Petty were 16 years old at the time of the assault, which she reported immediately. She says she never submitted a letter recantingâbut alleges that associates of Minaj and Pettyâs spent months last year harassing her to do so, going so far as to offer hundreds of thousands of dollars on their behalf. At one point, Jennifer says, she also spoke with Minaj herself. (Minaj and Petty did not respond to requests for comment.)