Jennifer Hough, who accused Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty of rape in 1994, discussed her harassment lawsuit against the couple on an episode of The Real.
Hough sued Nicki Minaj and the rap star’s husband for allegedly trying to intimidate her into recanting rape allegations against Petty. When asked why she chose to speak out publicly for the first time on The Real, Hough explained her decision.
“I’m tired of being afraid,” she stated. “I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation have put me in a different type of fear, at my age, now. And it was wrong. And I don’t want to be afraid anymore. So, the only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up.”
Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1995. When he became a minor celebrity by marrying Nicki Minaj, Hough feared she’d be identified as his victim.
“I was so afraid of being found out,” she said. “I was so afraid as being known as the person he violated. And I didn’t want that.”
On The Real, Hough recounted her rape in vivid detail. She recalled Petty looking in the mirror and saying, “I’m the man,” after sexually assaulting her.
Hough also addressed the ways she’s been intimidated and harassed since Petty’s conviction gained notoriety. She revealed she actually spoke to Nicki Minaj in March 2020.
“She said that she got word that I was willing to help them out in a situation,” Hough said. “I didn’t understand what she was referring to. She offered to fly me and my family to L.A. I turned it down. And I told her, ‘Woman to woman, this really happened.’ And I haven’t spoken to her since.”
Nicki Minaj and her husband were accused of sending people to negotiate a bribe for Hough’s silence. Hough noted she kept saying no to all these offers, including one where an associate of the couple put $20,000 in her lap.
“The last message I received was that I should’ve taken the money ‘cause they’re going to use that money to put on my head,” she said.