Nicki Minaj scored a small legal win regarding the $20 million default judgment request made by Jennifer Hough, who recently asked the court to find the rapper and her husband Kenneth Petty in default for not responding to her harassment lawsuit.
According to Rolling Stone, on Tuesday (Oct. 19), a federal clerk for the Eastern District of New York ruled that the Beam Me Up Scotty emcee didn’t fail to respond to the lawsuit, writing that “it appears” Minaj filed paperwork last week to hire an attorney to defend her in the case. However, the clerk confirmed that Petty “has not filed an answer or otherwise moved with respect to the complaint.”
Minaj filed a sworn statement on Oct. 15, stating that she hired a lawyer last month, but “innocent miscommunications” led to late payment fees and a failure to fully secure services. “My failure to respond to the complaint was the product of an innocent mistake, and I ask the court to excuse the delay so that I can defend what I believe to be an entirely frivolous case,” the statement read.
Judd Burstein, who is representing the Queen rapper, also released a statement confirming the accident. “I confirm the truth of those portions of defendant’s declaration concerning my role in her failure to secure my services promptly,” he said.
As REVOLT previously reported, Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape against Hough back in 1995. He denied the allegations, but he later pleaded guilty to the charges and served four-and-a-half years in prison. Hough is now claiming that the Pettys are harassing her and trying to get her to change her allegations.
Last week, Burstein requested that Tyrone Blackburn, the attorney representing Hough, “withdraw the petition and grant an extension to respond.” However, Blackburn declined and told Minaj’s attorney “to prepare his opposition to my request for default judgment and explain to the court why his client and her husband believe they’re both above the law.”
Blackburn said he still plans on defaulting a motion against Petty for the $20 million. “It’s interesting that Kenneth Petty is currently in the Eastern District of New York suing the state of New York, but he has no respect for this proceeding and no respect for this judge to come forward and to answer for raping Jennifer Hough in 1994 and all the harassment he and his wife and his goons visited upon her since then,” he told Rolling Stone.