Hold on to your seats, everyone, because the latest buzz is that Nicki Minaj has just filed for divorce from her husband of five years, Kenneth Petty! Fans have been urging her to leave Kenneth for years, but this situation is a complete disaster because allegedly, Kenneth has been physically abusive towards Nicki and controlling her with drugs. It looks like Nicki has had enough of being manipulated and mistreated by Kenneth. Not only did she file for divorce, but she also allegedly filed for a restraining order due to the violence. This situation is even worse than we thought!
In a shocking turn of events in 2024, rumors are flying that Nicki Minaj has secretly filed for divorce from Kenneth Petty, her husband of five years. And get this: it’s not just a simple divorce; there are allegedly some domestic violence accusations, and she is supposedly seeking a restraining order against him. Now, I don’t want to sound harsh, but fans saw this coming from a mile away. The issue isn’t really with Nicki but with Kenneth and his troubling history with women.
When Kenneth and Nicki first tied the knot, fans were ecstatic for her, believing she had found her fairy tale ending. Their love story seemed perfect, especially since they had a history dating back to their teenage years in Queens, New York, where they were high school sweethearts. After losing touch for a while, they reunited and got married in 2019 in a super-secret ceremony. Fans only discovered the news when Nicki shared a surprise Instagram post, flaunting their “Mr. and Mrs.” mugs and matching bride and groom snapbacks. While fans were happy for her, the secrecy of the wedding didn’t quite add up, as Nicki has always been known for her bold and loud celebrations. Looking back, it’s clear she kept the marriage under wraps because she knew fans wouldn’t approve of Kenneth due to his controversial and questionable past, and she was definitely right about that.
Back in 1995, Kenneth found himself in serious trouble for allegedly assaulting his ex-girlfriend. He served time and was on a supervised release program from 2013 to 2018. The New York state authorities labeled him a level two offender, indicating a significant risk of reoffending. The allegations from ’95 involved using weapons to coerce his ex, but there’s more to the story.
In July 2019, after moving to California following his marriage to Nicki Minaj, Kenneth was arrested for failing to register as an offender. He posted a $20,000 bail, and considering his unclear employment status, it’s likely that Nicki paid the fine. A big question remains: why didn’t Nicki remind him to register, knowing the consequences?
In 2020, Kenneth faced up to 10 years in prison and a lifetime of supervised probation. A source noted, “Just because he’s famous now doesn’t change the fact he wasn’t famous when he was first required to register. He knew his obligations and failed to meet them.” Fans were shocked, questioning why Nicki, the queen of rap, married someone with such a history. One fan commented, “I wish I felt bad, but I don’t. She’s harsh to other women, defended her brother during his trial, and married this man. You’re judged by the company you keep.”
For context, Nicki’s brother was arrested for assaulting his 12-year-old stepdaughter. During the trial, Nicki defended him, asking for leniency even after his guilt was proven. He was sentenced to prison, which left Nicki in a tough spot. Given this history, her relationship with Kenneth seems less surprising. Nicki’s continued defense of Kenneth, including her statement, “He was young, she was young, and in a relationship. But go off, internet. You can’t run my life; you can’t even run your own,” didn’t help her image. While fans love Nicki, her stance here is troubling. Did she imply that non-consensual acts are excusable due to their past relationship? This controversy only seems to deepen.
In July 2022, Kenneth Petty was sentenced to a year of house arrest for failing to register as a sex offender when he moved to California with Nicki Minaj in 2019. On top of that, he had to pay a $500,000 fine. And who ended up covering that fine? Nicki, of course. So, instead of going on tour, Nicki had to stay home with her man. Fans weren’t thrilled, especially after hearing that Nicki allegedly tried to bribe her husband’s victim to keep quiet. You can’t make this stuff up.
When Kenneth’s ex, Jennifer, took legal action against him, Nicki’s team reportedly tried to silence her with a large sum of money. But Jennifer wasn’t having it. She came prepared with solid evidence and even revealed she’d been in touch with the US Marshals, who claimed to have concrete proof about the events of 1995. The drama was intense! This made Nicki look even worse. She faced a lot of criticism, with some people saying, “No matter how much you like Nicki’s music, it’s wrong to ignore her actions. She’s accused victims of lying and tried to buy their silence. You can still like her music, but you don’t need a degree in ethics to see that Nicki is wrong here. Fans need to hold their favorites accountable.”
Other fans pointed out that Nicki has a history of supporting men accused of assault, like rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine. In October 2015, when he was 19, Tekashi pleaded guilty to using a child in a sexual performance. Nicki defended him, saying, “I wanted him to perform with me at the VMAs. When I know somebody, there’s nothing you can tell me about him.” Nicki really needs to get a handle on her social media and her relationships because she’s making herself look bad.
After Nicki married Petty, her music career and album sales seemed to decline. Despite welcoming a baby boy, it seemed she put her career on hold to be a full-time mom and stand by Kenny. She opted for frequent Instagram Live sessions from home, which was odd and out of character for her, given her usual message of empowerment. But in September 2019, Nicki bluntly hinted at her retirement from music to The Shade Room and soon after announced to her 22.2 million Twitter followers, “I’ve decided to retire and have my family. I know you guys are happy now.” Her fans were horrified and asked why she couldn’t be a mom and a rapper at the same time. She seemed determined to leave music to protect her husband. She later deleted the tweet and posted, “I’m still right here, still madly in love with you guys, and you know that. In hindsight, this should have been a Queen Radio discussion, and it will be. I promise you guys will be happy. No guest, just us talking about everything. The tweet was abrupt and insensitive. I apologize, babe.”
In a later interview with Billboard, Nicki Minaj walked back her retirement plans, saying, “I love music and interacting with fans, so I can’t really see taking myself completely away, but I want to be open to other possibilities in my life. I do believe that it is important to become a woman outside of the magnifying glass. I have to make sure that I’m well-rounded as a human being.” This left fans confused and speculating about what might be happening behind the scenes, as her statements seemed inconsistent. Rumors began to circulate that Kenneth was controlling and manipulating her, making her appear unstable.
Nicki then expressed her hurt over her fans’ reactions to her retirement announcement. She said, “I didn’t know my fans would act like that with the tweet. It hurt my feelings because I feel like the way I did it was maybe insensitive to my fans, but I didn’t think people were going to take it, and I didn’t know it was going to be that big of a deal, so that’s why I deleted it.”
Things escalated further when Kenneth’s 1995 victim, Jennifer Hough, spoke out, claiming that Nicki and Kenneth were harassing her and encouraging their friends to do the same. Jennifer said that the harassment forced her to move and made it impossible for her to work. The situation worsened when Jennifer revealed that Nicki and Kenneth allegedly tried to bribe her with $20,000 to deny Kenneth’s past mistreatment. Jennifer decided to take legal action against Nicki and Kenneth, adding another layer to this already messy situation.
Nicki, Kenneth, and their legal team missed the deadline to respond to the lawsuit, leading Jennifer and her lawyers to request a default judgment, asking for $20 million. For those unfamiliar, a default judgment is when one party fails to respond to a lawsuit, and the judge makes a decision without hearing their side. Jennifer was within her rights to request this, but both Nicki and Kenneth filed motions to cancel the default judgments against them.
It’s important to note that Nicki and Kenneth were sued separately and had separate lawyers, so their cases are not legally connected. While Nicki’s default judgment was canceled, Kenneth’s was not, and he is fighting back. He has responded to the default judgment, and his response is full of revelations. So, what did Kenneth have to say in response?
Well, Kenny claimed he didn’t respond because he had trouble finding a lawyer. Everyone he contacted charged exorbitant fees, with some asking for retainers of $100,000. So, Kenny, you couldn’t afford a lawyer even though your girlfriend is Nicki Minaj? Nicki was tired of paying his bills. Kenneth then clarified that he was not convicted of violating Jennifer in 1994, but of attempting to violate her. He insisted that the encounter was consensual and that he pled guilty only because he was a scared 16-year-old who didn’t know what else to do. He accused Jennifer of trying to set him up to look like a violator when he was never convicted of that. He also claimed that he and Nicki never asked anyone to threaten Jennifer, saying that the man, Black, acted on his own because he was friends with both Nicki and Kenneth. Kenneth stated that he never asked Black to talk to Jennifer or give her money. He said Black was a mutual friend of his and Jennifer’s back in the day, and Black asked Kenneth for Nicki’s number, which he then gave to Jennifer to resolve issues between Jennifer and Nicki. Kenneth claimed that Jennifer was the one who called Nicki, not the other way around. He maintained that he never asked Black to intervene or gave him any money, suggesting that Black probably did it to gain favor with Nicki.
At this point, fans began wondering what Nicki ever saw in Kenneth. Could she love him so much that she’d risk her career over it? It was all very embarrassing and humiliating for Nicki. Imagine being at the top of your rap game, only for your husband to get dragged into such a mess. Her name kept coming up in conversations, and she had to pay thousands in fines while defending her husband on social media. It’s all too messy for a queen. But it gets even worse. Assault was not the only crime Kenneth had been convicted of or went to prison for. Kenneth pleaded guilty to killing a man named Lamont Robinson in 2002. Initially charged with second-degree murder in the 2006 trial, a plea bargain reduced the charge. According to reports, Kenneth shot Lamont Robinson multiple times with a loaded handgun, causing his death. So, she’s dealing with an assaulter and a murderer? It’s too much. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but was released after serving seven in 2013 and was on supervised release for five years. This means that when he and Nicki started dating, he was on supervised release for killing someone.
This story just keeps getting crazier. Nicki is out here defending him again, saying that she knew him better than anyone else and that people didn’t understand their happiness. She wrote, “When a person is with a ninja that loved them before they had a dime in their pocket, how do you not understand that? How do you not understand happiness versus clout?” You’d think that with his history and all the issues and embarrassments he caused his wife, he’d keep his head down and stay out of trouble, right? Well, wrong. Kenneth violated his probation when he threatened rapper Offset last year. A video went viral of Kenneth and his friends outside, calling out for Offset and threatening to jump him if they saw him outside. “That’s it. It is finished. That shit is over. Go, Kanye. No, shut up, man. Man up. We outside, big zo outside. Big Queen.” It got even worse when Kenneth threatened to kill Offset. “Man, what’s up with that man, huh? You don’t know, man. They said you don’t know. Planning your funeral all the way to the street.” It’s unbelievable.
Now, threatening someone is bad enough on any given day, but why do it while you’re on probation? That’s just asking for trouble—such a dumb move. As expected, people started dragging Kenneth for being messy and accusing him of stirring up drama with Cardi for no reason. Naturally, Nicki got caught in the crossfire too. The backlash was so intense that Kenneth decided to share private messages between him and Offset, revealing some kind of argument they had as proof.
According to the texts, Offset had DM’d Kenneth days before asking him to pull up, saying, “Where you located? You owe men and females business with no money for war. Don’t post me either since you a gangster, right? You live in Charlotte too?” Kenneth replied, “I’m outside. Head ain’t hiding from no man, especially no rap man. I’m outside, gangsta.” Offset then replied, “You a grown man talking shit about a woman. You a pussy.” Offset also said, “You guys too old and don’t be outside. And also, you can think what you think, but you broke and ain’t far from me catching your body. I’m not going to say shit else to you online.” Kenneth replied, “I ain’t hiding, my man. Get in line.” Offset clapped back, saying, “Get some money. Y’all not this broke. Man, some of us ain’t got it, but some of us ain’t that dumb to be acting like we do and trying to pick fights.” Offset continued, “Goofiness. You man ain’t standing on no business or no money. You broke. I could tell. Goofy, man.” Kenneth then threw a punch below the belt, bringing up Takeoff’s murder, saying, “Use that money to get them men that killed your partner, my G. That’s gangsta.” They continued to go back and forth, daring each other to pull up and trash-talking. Eventually, Kenneth and his gang took Offset up on his dare and pulled up.
We don’t know what exactly happened between them for Offset to DM Kenneth out of the blue or why they were so mad at each other. There are speculations that something happened at the VMAs that we didn’t know about, which is why they were so mad. Kenneth’s video threatening Offset went viral, and surprise, surprise, it got him into a lot of trouble with the parole board, resulting in four months of house arrest. According to the legal document, Kenneth was recorded on video making threatening remarks towards a specific individual while in the company of someone with a criminal record. As such, the probation officer believes placement in the location monitoring program will effectively allow for closer monitoring, limit his movements, provide a sanction for his non-compliance, and hopefully encourage him to reflect upon and re-evaluate his current status in the community. The document further stated, “Praying that the court will order Kenneth Petty to participate in a period of up to 120 days in a home detention program, which may include electronic monitoring and GPS.” Kenneth overplayed his hand on this one because not only did he violate the terms of his parole, but he also bragged about it and posted it online for the world to see. Consequently, he was sentenced to 120 days of probation while Offset roamed the streets free.
Now that we’ve established how Kenneth has been making Nicki look bad, we need to talk about the allegations of how he had been keeping Nicki under his control by manipulating her with drugs. Blogger Ken Barbie was the first to spill this tea when he said, “You want to holla that people judge your disgusting husband because they’re not used to being loved, but you know who is used to being loved exactly like you? You, Wendy Williams. He loved her pockets to the end, letting her do all types of substances so he could keep digging in that purse while you sit up there looking like an ad. That man is keeping you all drugged up and mixing your nose candy with horse tranquilizers and OIC so he can make you more stupid while taking your money and letting you look crazy.” These rumors have been swirling around for a couple of years now and have been getting stronger recently. One day you’re pushing and you’re in pain, then one day it comes out a beautiful baby boy. To God be the glory. Congratulations to every mama out there. You’re doing a great job. In case no one’s told you that, you’re doing a great job.
Word on the streets is that Nicki’s friends and family got together and organized an intervention for her, which ultimately led to her leaving Kenneth once and for all. Allegedly, he also used to put hands on her and hurt her emotionally too. The situation is crazy, and fans wrote, “Getting dumped by the same offender you’ve been defending all these years and he just landed you in multiple lawsuits is crazy. What goes around comes back around truly. It’s hard for me to feel bad for Nicki ’cause girl, you made fun of everyone else, getting online crying. Now look at you, crying over Kenneth Petty. Kenneth probably got Nicki hooked on drugs and fattened her up to make her stay with him. I feel kind of bad for her. He probably made her feel like crap and look like crap and told her that he’s the only person who could ever love her. It’s sad.”