A nasty legal battle has erupted between Nicki Minaj’s lawyer and the attorney representing her husband’s sexual assault accuser, Jennifer Hough.
Nicki’s lawyer Judd Burstein is attempting to sanction Jennifer Hough’s lawyer Tyrone Blackburn over claims he made about the rap star.
Blackburn represents Jennifer Hough, who filed a $20 million lawsuit against Nicki Minaj and her husband, Kenneth Petty.
Hough claims the pair was bullying her and intimidating her to get her to recant rape claims against the rap star’s husband so he could get off the National Sex Offender Registry list.
In addition to the threatened violence, Tyrone Blackburn and former co-counsel Steven Gordon filed documents claiming Nicki Minaj was a member of a New York gang called The Makk Ballers.
The lawyers claimed Nicki used her street clout to have gang members intimidate Jennifer Hough.
In January, Tyrone Blackburn voluntarily dismissed Nicki Minaj from the lawsuit – after she had racked up almost $300,000 in legal fees.
Nicki Minaj vowed to sue Tyrone Blackburn to recover the money she shelled out to defend herself, and she made good on her claims on Monday (April 11th).
Her attorney Judd Burstein asked a judge to sanction Tyrone Blackburn, calling his conduct in the case disgraceful.
Burstein accused Blackburn of intentionally attempting to smear Nicki’s reputation by arguing she supported the sexual abuse of children simply because she helped her brother Jelani Maraj’s defense in his rape case.
Jelani Maraj is serving 25-years-to-life after he was convicted of endangering the welfare of a child under the age of 13.
“If ever there were a case for imposing sanctions… this is that case. From the beginning of this case, when [Jennifer Hough’s] attorney, Mr. Blackburn, filed a complaint which was nonsensical in its factual allegations against [Nicki Minaj] and plainly motivated solely to prey upon her wealth and fame,” Judd Burstein snapped.
Burstein also blasted Blackburn’s claims that he was involved in a conspiracy with Jennifer Hough’s former lawyer, Steven Gordon, who was supposedly working as a “double agent” to help Nicki Minaj win the case.
Tyrone Blackburn denied Burstein’s allegations.
Tyrone Blackburn submitted various images of Nicki surrounded by Kenneth Petty and other men in court filings, supposedly making gang signs to support his allegations that she was tied to the notorious gang.
Blackburn also submitted the lyrics to Nicki Minaj’s song “Yikes” to justify her alleged involvement with gangs.
Tyrone Blackburn eventually had to fire Steven Gordon, claiming he was a drug addict.
“I received a firsthand account from Gordon’s family concerning Gordon’s purported drug addiction. I received a firsthand account of the kind of drugs Gordon is addicted to, as well as graphically detailed accounts of the impact Gordon’s addiction has had on Gordon’s family,” Tyrone Blackburn said.
Blackburn said he had no clue Gordon was addicted to drugs when he hired him as co-counsel, or he “would have never allowed him onto the case.”
“Partnering with Steven Gordon is by far the biggest regret I have in my career,” who accused the lawyer of harassing his own client.
Tyrone Blackburn said that in addition to being traumatized by Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty’s actions, Jennifer Hough also suffered at the hands of her former lawyer, who called her non-stop.
“Gordon called Hough incessantly, Monday through Sunday, crying and complaining about the harassing messages he was receiving from [Nicki Minaj’s] fans. Gordon’s calls were not limited to complaints concerning his hurt feelings; Gordon also disclosed unsolicited graphic details of his acts of adultery,” Tyrone Blackburn claimed.
“Gordon’s incessant calls were even more problematic because Gordon was aware of the vulnerable mental and emotional state [Jennifer Hough] is in because of the actions of Defendant [Kenneth Petty] and [Nicki Minaj].,” Tyrone Blackburn said of his former co-counsel.
The legal drama for Jennifer Hough is far from over.
In addition to fighting off Nicki Minaj’s quest to get $300,000 from her lawyer, Hough is still pursuing a separate lawsuit against Kenneth Petty.
A judge has yet to rule.
