The legal saga surrounding Kenneth Petty, Nicki Minaj, and Jennifer Hough has taken another twist. Petty’s legal team is fighting back against what they say is an effort to humiliate him and his wife publicly. Petty, still the only defendant in Hough’s harassment lawsuit, is also waging a battle over demands to produce tax records, arguing the request is late and unnecessary.
In a court filing Thursday (March 27), Petty’s lawyer, Steven Isser, also blasted Hough’s legal team for trying to involve Minaj in the suit by seeking their joint tax returns.
“Petty has not made any income in tax years 2022–2023,” Isser wrote, stressing that Hough’s lawyers were casting a net for details about Minaj’s finances under the pretext of weeks’ worth of discovery. “There is no basis for Hough to obtain Nicki’s tax returns. “Plaintiff’s counsel has not made such a showing.”
The response also highlighted that Petty had already volunteered to produce a certified affidavit listing any payments he received from Minaj’s company instead of filing their joint returns. But Hough’s time seemed intent on pushing the case beyond the legal boundary.
Petty’s legal team further slammed Hough’s attorneys for missing key discovery deadlines, claiming their belated requests were a last-ditch effort to keep the case afloat.
“Hough did not request Petty’s tax returns or employment history until after the discovery cut-off had passed,” Isser said, dismissing the attempts as legally unsound.
The filing also rebutted Hough’s claim that Minaj had secretly employed Petty as a manager, bodyguard, or nanny. Petty’s claim that he was entitled to 20 percent of the gross earnings Minaj made during their time together was “absurd” and categorically unsupported by evidence.
“Plaintiff’s unfounded speculation that Petty was in fact Ms. Minaj’s manager who had a right to 20 percent of her gross earnings and/or was a paid security guard for his wife is ridiculous and has no basis in fact or in Petty’s testimony at his deposition or any other proof,” the document read.
Petty said he received “allotments” from Minaj’s company but claimed those payments weren’t professional wages and, therefore, not taxable income.
Isser did not hold back when addressing Hough’s counsel, Tyrone Blackburn, alleging that he was using the case for publicity rather than good-faith legal discovery.
“Hough’s motion papers are also littered with statements that are incorrect, in a further effort to attract media attention and to embarrass Petty and his wife,” the filing said.
The suit, which was filed in 2021, accused Petty and Minaj of trying to intimidate Hough into retracting what she had said about Petty’s rape conviction in 1994. Although Minaj was dropped from the lawsuit in 2022, Petty remains ensnared in the legal case and is now asking for punitive damages. So far, a judge has not yet ruled on the most recent dispute. But one thing is clear: this high-profile legal battle is just beginning.
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