Who is Nicki Minaj’s hubby and baby daddy, Kenneth Petty? The ‘Queen of Rap’ may be known for female-empowering lyrics, but she’s married to a registered sex offender who was convicted of manslaughter
Nicki Minaj is easily one of the most successful rappers in the US.
The 41-year-old “Queen of Rap” has consistently topped charts with hits such as “Super Freaky Girl”, “Super Bass” and more, in a genre that remains largely dominated by men – even more so when she was kick-starting her career.
No doubt part of her success is down to her lyrics, which are often uplifting for her female fans. One of her most famous lyrics is: “You can be the king, but watch the queen conquer.”
So it may be surprising to some that, despite her empowering lyrics, her partner is a registered sex offender.
Here’s everything we know about Nicki Minaj’s husband and baby daddy, Kenneth Petty.
How did Nicki Minaj meet her husband, Kenneth Petty?
Minaj and Petty first met when they were both attending the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in New York City. The school boasts other celebrity alumni such as Friends star Jennifer Aniston and Wes Anderson’s buddy Adrien Brody. The pair dated briefly, but lost touch until they reunited in 2018.
Minaj made their relationship Instagram official in December 2018 with a carousel of photos showing her snuggling with Petty. She captioned the post: “He want me to be his wife – his Missis like sippi now.”
Do Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty have children?
The pair exchanged wedding vows in 2019 and welcomed their son in 2020. They’ve never disclosed their child’s real name to the public, but Minaj refers to him lovingly as “papa bear”.
In an interview with Vogue last year, Minaj admitted that her and Petty’s relationship became strained after the birth of their son.
“I’m not going to lie, things got testy between us,” the “Barbie World” rapper said. She added that “there’s no such thing as confidence in parenthood ... I kind of wish that someone had told me – although I’m sure I wouldn’t have been able to understand it – that there’s a level of anxiety, and you think it’s going to go away, but in fact it gets scarier. So often you think: I don’t know how to do this!”
What was Kenneth Petty convicted of?
In April 1995, Petty was convicted of attempting to rape a 16-year-old girl. He served four years in prison for the assault and is now a level two registered sex offender in New York state, as per People.
In a 2006 trial, Petty pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter for the killing of Lamont Robinson. He was actually originally charged with second-degree murder, but a plea bargain reduced the charge.
He was sentenced to 10 years in prison but only served seven, and was on supervised release for five years from 2013, reports People.
Nicki Minaj has found herself in hot water because of Kenneth Petty, too
Minaj is no stranger to controversy, and she’s landed in hot water due to her husband too. When fans brought Petty’s attempted rape conviction to Minaj’s attention on Instagram, she responded snarkily: “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship ... Y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life. Thank you boo.”
Not only has Minaj fiercely defended her husband from online criticism, she has also faced legal troubles when his alleged rape victim, Jennifer Hough, filed a harassment lawsuit against the rapper and her husband in 2021. Hough claimed that Minaj and Petty had been pressuring her to retract her rape accusations against Petty, even by offering her money.
According to People, the lawsuit against Minaj was later dropped in January 2022, but the case against Petty is still ongoing.
What does Kenneth Petty do for work?
Petty is now a musician after breaking into the industry by appearing in music videos with his wife – namely her 2019 hits “Megatron” and “Hot Girl Summer”.
Nicki Minaj, Kenneth Petty and those divorce rumours
Recently, fans have been speculating that Minaj may be separating from her husband of five years after she cryptically posted “yes single” on June 11, on X (formerly Twitter). Fans came away with rather disparate questions over whether the rapper is headed for a divorce ... or if she is teasing the release of a new single.
However, Minaj was quick to shut down divorce rumours, posting a video of the family of three boarding a private jet together two days later.
