Major Update on Nicki Minaj Harassment Lawsuit

01/12/2022 08:43 pm EST

The harassment suit aimed at Nicki Minaj by her husband Kenneth Petty's sexual assault accuser has been dismissed by a judge. TMZ reports Jennifer Hough voluntarily dismissed the case against the rapper on Wednesday –– without receiving any sort of financial settlement to dissolve the situation.

Nicki's husband is still named as a defendant on the case, but that's not stopping the rapper from going after Hough for her money spent on legal fees. Nicki's lawyer, Judd Burstein, condemned the entire lawsuit in a statement to the outlet calling it a cheap ploy to get money from Nicki. 

"In my view, your conduct in pursuing this case against Nicki represents the worst of our legal system: bottom-feeding lawyers who pursue frivolous actions against a celebrity assuming that they will be paid off if they throw enough dirt," reads one of Burstein's emails to Hough's lawyer Tyrone Blackburn. "You forced my client to spend over $300,000 in fees to defend a case which even my labradoodle, Gracie, could see was frivolous on both the facts and the law."

Hough filed the lawsuit in August 2021, just one month before she finally decided to publicly speak on the harassment she faced at the hands of her alleged abuser. "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." She also says, "The only way to continue not to be afraid is to speak up," she said of her decision to come forward on The Real. 

"They [Nicki Minaj and Petty] were wrong and you can't and shouldn't do this to people," she said of the alleged harassment. "What they did to me and my family wasn't okay. 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."

According to a portion of the lawsuit, Hough claimed she had been experiencing traumatic effects since she started getting harassed by the couple.  "As a direct result of the actions of Defendant Minaj and Defendant Petty, [Hough] has been traumatized her entire life," it reads. "Plaintiff has moved to multiple states to avoid intimidation and harassment by Defendant Minaj, Defendant, and their allies, legal teams, and fans." It goes on to say that she hadn't worked since May 2020 because of her "severe depression, paranoia, constant moving, harassment and threats from the defendants and their associates." She proceeded to start living in "isolation out of fear of retribution."

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