The woman who accused Nicki Minaj‘s husband, Kenneth Petty, of sexual assault criticized the rapper for attempting to make her retract her claims in her first TV interview.
Jennifer Hough appeared on daytime talk show The Real on Wednesday, September 22, where she revealed she was tired of being afraid.
She previously accused Nicki and Petty of running a campaign of intimidation and bribery to drop her claims.
Hough alleged that Nicki and her associates repeatedly reached out to her and her family in an effort to get her to deny she was sexually assaulted by Petty in 1994, when she was 15.
Petty, 43, served four years in prison for attempted rape and seven years for first-degree manslaughter as a young man.
Speaking to hosts Garcelle Beauvais and Adrienne Bailon on The Real, Hough said:
“I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation have put me in a different type of fear… and it was wrong. I don’t want to be afraid anymore. So the only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up.”
She recalled her sexual assault, saying Petty forced her into a house after they met at a bus stop. Afterwards, Hough called the police and watched as they brought Petty out of the house in handcuffs. Police took her to a nearby hospital for a rape kit.
Petty was convicted and placed on a sex offender list, but Nicki has always maintained her husband and Jennifer were dating at the time of the incident. She insisted Petty was 15 at the time.
“It wasn’t true,” Hough said. “We both were 16, we were never in a relationship. I just felt woman to woman that was wrong of her.”
Petty recently pleaded guilty to failing to register as a sex offender in California. He has entered a plea deal which calls for him to serve prison time. He will learn his sentence in an upcoming hearing.
Petty is suing New York officials to get his name off the state’s Sex Offender Registry.
He claims he never got the chance to challenge the default ruling back in 2004 because he was in prison at the time, and he was never served with a summons.
Hough is suing Nicki and Petty for intentional infliction of emotional distress, harassment, and witness intimidation.
Watch Hough’s interview below.
