Kenneth Petty controversies: Biggest scandals Nicki Minaj's husband has faced in the past

Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty were high school sweethearts from Queens, New York, who drifted away after the rapper got occupied with her music career. However, the couple reconnected in 2018 and decided to make their relationship public in December after months of dating.

The following year in October, Nicki tied the knot with Kenneth and became Mrs. Petty. In 2020, the couple welcomed their son into the world.

Long before their marriage, back in 1995, Kenneth Petty was convicted of attempted first-degree r*pe, linked to an assault that took place a year ago. Petty served 18-54 months of prison sentence at the time and has since been a registered s** offender.

Here is a look at all the controversies that the Pink Friday rapper's husband has faced in the past.

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Scandals faced by Nicki Minaj's husband in the past, explored

August 2021: The Jennifer Hough lawsuit controversy

Jennifer Hough, who was the victim in the 1995 s**ual assault trial against Kenneth Petty, came forward to file a lawsuit against both Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty in August 2021.

Hough's lawsuit claimed that the Only rapper's associates had reached out to her family repeatedly, in attempts to get her to drop her statement against Petty. They wanted her to issue a statement denying Petty's s**ual assault, in exchange for which they were offering her $20,000 and a video of Nicki Minaj singing "Happy Birthday" to her daughter.

Minaj was dropped from Jennifer's lawsuit several months later, however, her civil claims against Petty were not dropped.

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July 2022: Probation for failing to register as a s** offender in California

A little before their wedding in October 2019, Kenneth Petty moved to California in July 2019 to live with his beau, Nicki Minaj. However, in doing so, Petty overlooked the condition of his s** offender status, which required him to register whenever he moved to a different state.

As a consequence, Nicki Minaj's husband was tried in 2021. After a year, the case was settled and Petty was ordered to pay a fine of $55,000, received three years of probation sentence, and an added year of home detention, starting July 2022.

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September 2023: House arrest as a consequence of threatening Offset

In September 2023, both Nicki Minaj and Cardi B - who have a long-standing beef - attended the MTV VMAs. While nothing seemingly out of place happened between the rappers, there were rumors of tension between their husbands, Kenneth Petty and Offset, afterward.

Soon after the award show, on September 16, a video surfaced of Kenneth Petty with his associates outside an NYC hotel where Offet was staying, looking for the rapper. Among other threatening remarks being said in the video, Petty was recorded saying:

"Plan that vacation, you gonna be planning your funeral, p***y."

Petty's action was registered as a violation of his probation terms in the court of California, which led to him receiving yet another house detention sentence, for 120 days.

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September 2024: Online backlash for using a gay slur during Minaj's Live session

Towards the end of August 2024, Nicki Minaj was doing an Instagram Live session with Petty next to her. At one point in the livestream, the Starships rapper told her fans not to let others steal their joy, to which her husband added with a smile:

"That's right, especially little fa***ts and f**k boys."

The gay slur Petty said received a huge backlash on social media, with some users pointing out how he sounded high, while others called it disgusting, criticizing Nicki for letting him do that.

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Kenneth Petty is still serving his probation sentence from July 2022, because of which he is required to obtain a permit every time he needs to leave California. This is also why Petty can't join Minaj as she travels to different parts of the world for her Pink Friday 2 world tour. Her tour will conclude on October 11, 2024.