Jennifer Hough speaks out against the alleged harrassment she endured from Petty and Nicki Minaj.
Jennifer Hough is speaking out against Kenneth Penny and Nicki Minaj.
In her first on-camera interview, Hough talked to the ladies of The Real about the lawsuit she filed against the couple in which she accuses them of harassment and intimidation, among other charges. ET has reached out to Minaj's rep for comment.
"I'm tired of being afraid. 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," Hough told Garcelle Beauvais and Adrienne Houghton during Wednesday's episode. "And I don't want to be afraid anymore. So, the only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up."
In 1994 when Hough was 16, she reported that Petty raped her at knifepoint. Petty, who was also 16 at the time, was charged with first-degree rape and initially denied the accusations, before pleading guilty to attempted rape. He served more than four years in prison and was ordered to register as a sex offender.
Hough filed a lawsuit against Petty and Minaj on August, 13, 2021. In court docs obtained by ET, she accused them of "intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault, and sexual harassment."
The docs also noted that "in violation of his 1994 plea deal," Petty failed to register as a sex offender in California. Petty later registered in March 2020, after he was pulled over in November 2019 for a traffic stop in Beverly Hills, according to Petty's booking sheet obtained by ET at the time. Petty was arrested and released on a $20,000 bond.
When asked how it has affected her emotionally over the years, Hough replied, "In so many ways. 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."
Hough claimed that she spoke with Minaj last year, saying, "I did. In March of 2020. She called me and she said that she got word that I was willing to help them out in a situation," she claimed. "I didn’t understand what she was referring to. She offered to fly me and my family to LA. I turned it down. And I told her, woman to woman, this really happened. And I hadn’t spoken to her since."
As for how Hough claims the couple is harassing her, she alleged "with them sending people to negotiate numbers as far as money is concerned with family members."
"And Nicki is the one who personally reached out to me, in regards to helping her, helping them in this situation. And then the threats that I received because I kept saying no to every offer, to every suggestion," she claimed. "The last incident was when one of their associates put $20,000 dollars on my lap. And I still kept saying no. The last message I received was that I should have taken the money because they’re going to use that money to put on my head."
Hough hopes that the lawsuit will "let them know that they were wrong."
"You can't do this to people. You shouldn't do this to people," she expressed. "He did something a long time ago and he had consequences that he was supposed to stick with. What they did to me and my family wasn’t OK. It wasn’t right and it doesn’t matter how much money you have. It doesn’t matter what your status is, you can’t intimidate people to make things go better for you. And that’s what they did."
Additionally in the lawsuit, Hough claimed that the damages for the lawsuit far exceed $75,000. Hough is requesting a jury trial and for Minaj and Petty to pay damages and legal fees.
Minaj, on her end, has defended her husband on social media ever since fans expressed their thoughts on Petty.
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