A security guard claims Petty broke his jaw at a concert in Frankfurt, Germany, after defending a female colleague embroiled in an altercation with Minaj
ByAlex Rigotti24th March 2024
Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty (Photo by Robert Kamau/GC Images)
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.
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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.
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“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.
Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty (Photo by Robert Kamau/GC Images)
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:
MARCH 202424 – Nashville, TN – Bridgestone Arena26 – Charlotte, NC – Spectrum Center28 – Newark, NJ – Prudential Center29 – Philadelphia, PA – Wells Fargo Center30 – New York, NY – Madison Square Garden
APRIL 20241 – Washington, D.C. – Capital One Arena2 – Baltimore, MD – CFG Bank Arena4 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center5 – Hartford, CT – XL Center7 – Raleigh, NC – Dorothea Dix Park8 – Boston, MA – TD Garden10 – Boston, MA – TD Garden12 – Columbus, OH – Schottenstein Center13 – Milwaukee, WI – Fiserv Forum17 – Montreal, Quebec – Bell Centre18 – Toronto, Ontario – Scotiabank Arena20 – Detroit, MI – Little Caesars Arena24 – Chicago, IL – United Center25 – Chicago, IL – United Center27 – Minneapolis, MN – Target Center30 – Toronto, ON – Scotiabank Arena
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MAY 20241 – Brooklyn, NY – Barclays Center2 – Oklahoma City, OK – Paycom Cente9 – Houston, TX – Toyota Center11 – Dallas, TX – American Airlines Center12 – Austin, TX – Moody Center23 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome25 – Manchester, England – Co-Op Live26 – Birmingham, England – Resorts World Arena28 – London, England – The O229 – Glasgow, Scotland – OVO Hydro
JUNE 20241 – Paris, France – Accor Arena2 – Amsterdam, Netherlands – Ziggo Dome4 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena5 – Cologne, Germany – Lanxess Arena7 – Berlin, Germany – Mercedes Benz Arena9 – Paris, France – Accor Arena11 – Copenhagen, Denmark – Royal Arena12 – 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.”