Nicki Minaj and her husband Kenneth Petty have been ordered to pay $500,000 (£396,000) for an alleged backstage assault by a judge this Friday (March 22).
According to security guard Thomas Weidenmuller in a lawsuit brought to an LA court, the incident was sparked by a fan climbing on stage with Minaj during a concert held in Frankfurt in 2019. The rapper allegedly blamed a female security guard for letting the fan jump over the barricade, and started to record the guard as she yelled at her.
Weidenmuller then reportedly stepped in, telling Minaj it wasn’t fair to have the security staffer’s reputation “ruined” publicly. He claimed Minaj then threw a shoe at him (but missed), and went on to allege that Petty ambushed him from behind and punched him in the face. The blow allegedly left Weidenmuller “stunned and disoriented” with a broken jaw.
“I felt a blinding pain in my head, neck, face and jaw. I could tell in that instant that something was seriously wrong with my jaw,” he wrote in a court filing. Weidenmuller added he was taken to hospital and underwent several surgeries, staying at the hospital for a further ten days. Weidenmuller stated he now has “five plates” in his jaw, which still “has not yet been fully reconstructed”.
Weidenmuller initially asked for $21,000 to cover medical bills and $700,000 for emotional pain, suffering, and his ongoing injury. However, as Minaj and Petty failed to respond to the lawsuit, the judge awarded Weidenmuller a default judgement amount of over $500,000. According to Weidenmuller’s lawyers, the court tried to serve Minaj and Petty the complaint several times, but never succeeded. NME have reached out to Minaj’s reps for comment.
Minaj is currently touring her new album ‘Pink Friday 2‘ – see all remaining dates below and get your tickets here.
Nicki Minaj ‘Pink Friday 2’ 2024 world tour dates are:
Recommended
MARCH 2024
24 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena
26 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center
28 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center
29 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center
30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
APRIL 2024
1 – Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena
2 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena
4 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
5 – Hartford, CT – XL Center
7 – Raleigh, NC – Dorothea Dix Park
8 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden
12 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center
13 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum
17 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre
18 – Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena
20 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena
24 – Chicago, IL – United Center
25 – Chicago, IL – United Center
27 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center
30 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
MAY 2024
1 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center
2 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Cente
9 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center
11 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center
12 – Austin, TX – Moody Center
23 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
25 – Manchester, England – Co-Op Live
26 – Birmingham, England – Resorts World Arena
28 – London, England – The O2
29 – Glasgow, Scotland – OVO Hydro
JUNE 2024
1 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
2 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome
4 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
5 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena
7 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes Benz Arena
9 – Paris, France – Accor Arena
11 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena
12 – Stockholm, Sweden – Tele2 Arena
In other news, Usher has said he regrets smacking Minaj on the bum at the 2014 VMAs, saying: “I shouldn’t have smacked her”. The artist initially claimed it was “Jamaican culture,” adding: “So you gotta go to Jamaica. That was just a moment that was fun.”
“I think I was reaching a bit when I smacked her, though,” he continued. “I shouldn’t have smacked her butt. I shouldn’t have did that.”