Kenneth Petty’s Victim, Jennifer Hough, Speaks Out in New Interview

Warning: this article contains descriptions of graphic sexual abuse

Jennifer Hough is done being silent. She’s the victim of convicted rapist Kenneth Petty’s sexual abuse. Petty just so happens to be the husband of Nicki Minaj. Hough appeared in an interview alongside her attorney, Tyrone Blackburn on The Real. During the interview on Wednesday, Hough says that she’s “tired of being afraid.” 

“I feel like the actions that were taken in regards to this whole situation put me in a different type of fear at my age, and it was wrong,” Hough told the daytime talk show hosts. “The only way not to be afraid is to continue to speak up.”

I stand with Jennifer Hough and all other survivors of sexual assault. I believe her wholeheartedly and am conjuring safety on her behalf.

— #FreeKeithDavisJr. (@_Rawilcox) September 22, 2021

According to the conviction, “Petty was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 after Jennifer Hough alleged that he had raped her at knifepoint as she was on her way to school in New York City a year earlier.” Hough stated that she “managed to escape by hitting Petty with a bleach-shaped bottle.”

Jennifer Hough is a brave, brave person, and I pray for her protection and resolve

— Brittany Luse (@bmluse) September 22, 2021

Back in 1995, Petty was convicted of first-degree attempted rape and served four and a half years for what he did to Hough. He was ordered to register as a sex offender in New York City. In 2020, Petty was arrested for failing to register as a sex offender in California. On September 9, Petty accepted a plea deal and faces between five to ten years in prison. He is scheduled to be charged on January 24, 2022. It was in August when Hough filed a lawsuit against the rapper and her husband for “witness intimidation, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, harassment, assault, battery, sexual assault, and sexual harassment.”

Sending love to Jennifer Hough now and forever. Cannot imagine wanting to put your trauma to rest and having to constantly relive it because a celebrity is harassing you on the world’s stage.

— mugatu (@tinnkky) September 22, 2021

Hough stated that “the couple had third parties, friends of Minaj and Petty, attempt to bribe her to recant her statement,” but she states “she declined.”

Jennifer Hough is brave af but I wish she didn’t have to be. What she had to endure is really terrible and idk how some people are still defending That Man and That Woman.

— ΛDRIΛN (@AdrianXpression) September 22, 2021

Hough stated, “Then the threads that I received, because I kept saying no to every offer, to every suggestion. The last incident was when one of their associates put $20,000 on my lap and I still kept saying no. The last messaged I received was that I should have taken the money, because they’re going to use that money to put on my head.”

Hough alleged that she spoke to Minaj directly back in March of 2020.

“She called me and she said that she got word that I was willing to help them out in the situation. I didn’t understand what she was referring to. She offered to fly me and my family to L.A. I turned it down and I told her, woman to woman, ‘This really happened,’ and I haven’t spoken to her since.” 

Hough also stated “that her family was allegedly threatened, including her own daughter.” and that “associates of Minaj and Petty attempted to again bribe them with $500,000.” After Hough and her “family refused,” she states “the harassment began” and “continued even after moving and changing phone numbers multiple times.”

When the rape allegations surfaced, Minaj allegedly diminished Hough. Minaj said that “Petty was wrongfully accused of rape and that his victim wrote a letter to the judge, asking to recant their statement. The victim decided not to go through with it upon finding out that they could go to jail for 90 days.” Minaj claimed that Hough’s allegations were racially motivated, saying, “white is right.” Hough’s mother is white and her father is black.

“But white is right” Nicki Minaj really wanted y’all to believe Jennifer Hough was a white woman to pretend her husband’s offense was racially motivated…. there’s no defending this smh https://t.co/t3HlsfoUaG

— Jess {fan acc} (@britneyxmariah) September 22, 2021

Furthermore, Minaj claimed that Petty and Hough were “in a relationship.” According to Hough, she and Petty were “never in a relationship.”

In response to an Instagram comment back in 2018, Minaj wrote “He was 15, she was 16 in a relationship. But go awf Internet. Y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life.”

Hough insisted that “We were never in a relationship, ever. We never had no type of romantic anything. We never talked on the phone, we never hung out together. I just knew him from the neighborhood.”

My heart really goes out to Jennifer Hough because whether you believe her or not Kenneth HIMSELF pleaded guilty to attempted rape & that is enough for me. pic.twitter.com/MPeuv4vSvu

— raveen marie ☕️✨ (@xoraveen) September 22, 2021

Hough further stated how she “hasn’t felt real justice for what has happened with her and her family.” Throughout the years, she’s blamed herself for what had happened. She’s spent her life, “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.” 

You can watch Hough’s interview on The Real below.