Nicki Minaj’s Husband Sentenced to House Arrest for Threatening Offset and Cardi B on Instagram Live

Nicki Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty on Wednesday was sentenced to “up to” 120 days of house arrest after a video Petty shared earlier this month showed him threatening Offset and Cardi B during an Instagram Live, per court documents obtained by reporter Meghann Cuniff. The order, signed by a judge in Los Angeles, specifies that in addition to Petty’s threatening remarks, his actions also present a “violation” because he was “in the company of someone with a criminal record” in the video.

In the video in question, Petty addresses Offset, says he’s looking for the Migos rapper, and tells Offset, “You’ll be planning your funeral” soon. Petty, who was convicted of attempted rape in the first degree in 1995, also threatens to attack Cardi B, telling the rapper he’ll “knock the veneers” out of her mouth, as he and his friend stand on a street near the hotel that Offset and Cardi B were staying in at the time. Complex reports that “one of Petty’s associates” also appeared to send threatening messages to Offset and Cardi B via Instagram over the weekend.

It’s not entirely clear what started Petty and Offset’s conflict. Over the last week, a friend of Petty’s posted a series of DMs between Minaj and Cardi’s husbands from earlier this month. The two gentlemen go back and forth telling each other at varying points to “shut the fuck up” and asking where the other is. At one point Offset tells Petty, a registered sex offender, that he’s “old ash” and has “no money for war.” Petty calls Offset a “pussy,” and in a particularly out-of-pocket message, references Takeoff, Offset’s former Migos groupmate who was fatally shot last year, telling Offset to “use” his money to get the people “that killed ya partner.” (A man named Patrick Xavier Clark was arrested and charged back in December for Takeoff’s shooting death.)

Amid all of this, Offset eventually shared a charmingly smug little video of himself last week, dismounting a jet and addressing Petty directly: “I’m getting off a jet, and he’s funny,” he says of Petty, adding, “Talkin’ bout ‘outside.’ Extremely broke!”

Minaj and Cardi have been fairly quiet through all of this, even as their husbands’ aggressive feud comes amid their own years-long, simmering conflict. Unlike Offset and Petty, who have only been threatening violence, Minaj and Cardi memorably came to physical blows at a New York Fashion Week event in 2018. (It’s also not clear what started Minaj and Cardi’s feud, though there are theories.) Both Cardi and Minaj have avoided addressing the matter, with Cardi sharing photos of a lavish, romantic anniversary gift from Offset on Wednesday.

In any case, this is hardly Petty’s first run-in with the law: On top of his conviction for attempted rape nearly 30 years ago, last July, a judge sentenced him to one year of house arrest and three years of probation for failing to register as a sex offender. And in October 2021, Jennifer Hough, the woman Petty assaulted in the 1990s, sued both Petty and Minaj for harassing and trying to intimidate her into recanting her testimony about the assault.

Petty and Minaj share a son who’s almost three, while Offset and Cardi share a five-year-old daughter and two-year-old son. Here’s hoping everyone stays safe and I never again have to see a grown man threaten another grown man via Instagram vlog.