For over ten years, The Wendy Williams Show has dished out celebrity news and everything in between but lately, the drama seems to be more personal. Case in point, Williams’ criticism of Nicki Minaj’s marriage to childhood friend Kenneth Petty.
While wrapping up Tuesday’s episode (March 10) Williams used the last seconds of the show to call out the rapper’s decision to marry a registered sex offender. It was recently reported that Petty, 41, was arrested after he failed to register as a sex offender in California months after officially moving to the state last year. The Los Angeles District Attorney’s office shared Friday (Mar. 6) that the felony charges were dropped but if he is convicted of the same felony charge, he faces up to 10 years in prison.
While Williams shared her thoughts on the “Yikes” rapper’s personal life, she pointed out again how Minaj’s marriage could hurt her lucrative brand. “You should have never married him because you’ve ruined everything about what your brand could’ve been..again,” she said. “You’re never going to stand a chance when you’re with a man who pulls a knife at rape point.”
After Minaj confirmed her relationship with Petty in 2018, she clarified his murky past on social media. “He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship,” she wrote on Instagram to her critics, adding, “But go awf, internet, y’all can’t run my life. y’all can’t even run y’all own life.”
Petty was in fact 15 when he was convicted of first-degree attempted rape in 1995 with the victim (his alleged girlfriend at the time) being 16-years old. Just one year prior in September 1994, NYPD’s Sex Offender Unit arrested Petty for “sexual intercourse” with a 16-year-old female. In his case, Petty reportedly used a “knife/cutting instrument” during the incident. Petty was originally charged with rape in the 1st degree, sexual abuse in the first degree, unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, assault in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon in the fourth degree. He accepted a plea deal and was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree, and served 4 years in prison.
While Williams didn’t go into detail about Petty’s past, she did point out his manslaughter charge from 2006. Petty served nearly seven years in prison before his release in May 2013. He was reportedly on supervised release until May 2018, just a few months before Minaj confirmed their relationship.
The two have been seen out and about, recently at Trinidad’s Carnival celebration and Marc Jacobs’ New York fashion show.
“You’re never going to stand a chance with “John Q” in public because now there’s one thing worse than touching children and pulling knives and that’s murder,” Williams said.
Petty has since registered as a sex offender in Calfornia.
Williams and Minaj have gone back and forth for some time now. Minaj addressed Williams’ comments about her life on her Queen Radio show in the past. “It’s not about doing your job,” Minaj said. “There are people who report the news and there are people who do it with evil intent in their heart, viciousness. And I pray for you because I know you’re hurting and I know you must be sick and humiliated.”
Despite the drama, Minaj has enjoyed the success of her latest single “Yikes” and recently donated $25,000 to St. Jude’s Home for Girls in her native home of Trinidad.