Nicki Minaj and husband Kenneth Petty, ordered to pay $500,000 for alleged backstage assault in Germany

Nicki Minaj, the chart-topping rapper known for her fierce rhymes and unapologetic style, is now facing a hefty financial blow. A Los Angeles judge has ruled that Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty, must pay $500,000 to a security guard following an alleged backstage assault during a concert in Frankfurt, Germany.

The backstory

The incident unfolded in 2019 when Minaj performed in Frankfurt. According to security staffer Thomas Weidenmuller, who filed the lawsuit, the trouble began when a fan breached the barricade and climbed onstage with Minaj. Tempers flared, and Minaj directed her frustration at a female security guard. Weidenmuller stepped in to defend his colleague, and that’s when things took a violent turn.

The allegations

Weidenmuller claims that Petty, Minaj’s husband, ambushed him from behind. In a sucker punch that left the security guard reeling, Petty allegedly broke Weidenmuller’s jaw. The motive? Retribution for Weidenmuller’s intervention during the dispute with the female guard.

"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. He said medics called an ambulance to take him to a hospital. He underwent the first of several surgeries and stayed there for ten days, he said."

"I now have five plates in my jaw, and my jaw has not yet been fully reconstructed. The doctors must still insert implants into my jaw as a part of the reconstruction process. In the interim, the doctors have inserted donor bones from a deceased person into my mouth in order to preserve space for the future implants,” he wrote in a sworn statement."

The fallout

The aftermath was painful and costly for Weidenmuller. He underwent multiple surgeries, with five plates now holding his jaw together. Donor bones from a deceased person were even inserted to preserve space for future implants. The physical pain was matched by emotional suffering, as Weidenmuller sought justice.

The legal battle

Despite Weidenmuller’s efforts to serve Minaj and Petty with the lawsuit, they remained unresponsive. The court awarded a default judgment of $503,318—a sum that covers medical bills and compensates for ongoing injury and emotional distress. Minaj and Petty’s silence in the face of legal proceedings sealed their fate.

For Minaj, this serves as a stark reminder that fame and fortune don’t shield against accountability. Whether on stage or off, actions have consequences. As the legal dust settles, the rapper and her husband are left counting the cost of their alleged backstage assault.