Barbie has her Ken!
Nicki Minaj, 36, announced her marriage to Kenneth Petty, 41, on Instagram late Monday night following nearly a year of dating. She shared her martial bliss with a video of matching “Mr. and Mrs.” mugs and coordinating “Bride” and “Groom” baseball caps.
“10•21•19,” the rapper captioned the footage, appearing to refer to the lovebirds’ official wedding date. USA TODAY reached out to Minaj’s rep for comment.
She hasn’t shared any more details about tying the knot, but Minaj revealed in August that she would have a big wedding celebration following their low-key nuptials.
“I have to work on my album and I have a lot to focus on that I don’t want to do the big wedding now,” she said on Queen Radio in August. “We’ll do the big wedding later.”
She continued: “Before the 90 days is over, yes, I will be married. I’m very happy about that because my baby makes me so happy.”
Minaj and Petty start dating last year before becoming Instagram-official in December 2018. Their relationship made waves after Petty’s criminal history came to light.
Petty is a registered, Level 2 sex offender on New York State’s Sex Offender Registry. He was assessed as posing a medium risk of committing another offense.
According to the registry, in April 1995, Petty was convicted of attempted first-degree rape for a 1994 assault that occurred when both he and the victim were 16. It also notes that he used a knife or cutting instrument during the commission of the crime. He was sentenced to between 18 and 54 months in state prison. According to New York State Department of Corrections records, he served just under four years and was released in January of 1999.
The DOC website says that in 2006, Petty went back to prison for first-degree manslaughter and served nearly seven years before being released on parole in May 2013.
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I remember when I cried like “why me?” Now I wouldn’t Exchange my life for Armani ♥️ 〽️??
When an Instagram commenter noted that he would have been a teenager at the time of the attempted rape and speculated the victim “must’ve been a white girl,” Minaj reportedly offered clarification, stating, “He was 15, she was 16… in a relationship. But go awf Internet. y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life. Thank you boo.”
Earlier this week, Minaj called Petty the “Clyde to my Bonnie.” She updated her Twitter account to read “Mrs. Petty.”
Contributing: Erin Jensen
[Via]