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In 1994, Jennifer Hough was 16 years old when she, reported to the police that Kenneth Petty, also 16 at the time, had raped her at knifepoint after leading her into a home in Queens. Petty was arrested and charged with first-degree rape. He subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted rape and served about four and a half years in prison, according to inmate records, as reported in The New York Times.
Petty was also added to the sex offender registry and required to remain registered as a sex offender in every state where he lived. He recently pleaded guilty to failing to register in California, the state in which he resides with his wife, rap artist Nicki Minaj, and their infant son.
On Wednesday, Hough made headlines when she appeared on daytime talk show, The Real. She recently filed a lawsuit against Petty and Minaj, claiming they have both harassed her to change her narrative about the assault.
A visibly distraught Hough wiped tears from her eyes and spoke softly in her responses, with her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn, by her side.
She shared with The Real co-hosts Adrienne Bailon and Garcelle Beauvais that she blamed herself for the incident, saying she’d spent her life “hiding within myself — living and surviving through insecurities, using them to protect myself. Thinking that if I don’t look a certain way, I won’t attract a certain type of attention. I’ve been like that my whole life.”
Blackburn said his client had been threatened by an associate of the “Beam Me Up Scotty” rapper and her husband, making it clear, “We would not be here but for the actions of Kenneth Petty and Nicki Minaj.”
In her interview, Hough accuses Minaj and Petty of directly and indirectly threatening and harassing her. She also claims Minaj attempted to bribe her to stop her from discussing the incident with Petty. After Hough refused to come to California to recant her story, she says she and her family “suffered an onslaught of harassing calls and unsolicited visits.”
Minaj also allegedly had her associates reach out to Hough’s brother and offer a $500K payment in exchange for his sister’s cooperation.
Have you seen the trending interview? what are your thoughts?
