Nicki Minaj sued for assault and battery by former manager
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Los Angeles: American rapper Nicki Minaj is facing a lawsuit filed by Brandon Garrett, who allegedly worked as her day-to-day manager during her 'Pink Friday 2' World Tour. The lawsuit accuses the Grammy-nominated artist of assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress. Garrett claims that Minaj struck him in the face during a confrontation.
According to a complaint filed on Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Garrett, who was responsible for managing Minaj’s day-to-day tour activities, alleges that Minaj, whose real name is Onika Maraj, hit him multiple times backstage at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on April 21, following one of her concerts.
In response, Minaj’s lawyer, Judd Burstein, issued a statement to Variety, strongly denying the allegations and refuting an initial report from TMZ. "At this time, no complaint has been served upon Mrs. Petty (Minaj’s husband, Kenneth Petty), and therefore, we are unaware of the specific allegations," Burstein said. "However, if the lawsuit is as reported by TMZ, it is completely false and frivolous. We are confident that the matter brought by this ex-assistant will be resolved swiftly in Mrs. Petty’s favor."
The lawsuit further details that Garrett was returning from an errand Minaj had asked him to run when he received a text message from Minaj’s head of security, Larry Dathan, directing him to meet the rapper in her dressing room. Upon arrival, Garrett claims he found eight members of Minaj’s staff present, including Dathan, another employee named Luke Montgomery, and Minaj’s former manager Deb Antney.
Garrett alleges that Minaj began by complaining about the staff’s performance, specifically their lack of clarity about job roles. The rapper then turned her focus to Montgomery, inquiring about his duties. According to Garrett’s complaint, Montgomery explained his role involved managing venue set-up, private jet coordination, hotel accommodations, quick-change room refreshments, and tour bus organization, in addition to fulfilling personal requests from Minaj communicated by Garrett, such as food and drink orders, personal items, baby supplies, and prescription pickups.
Garrett notes that he had tasked Montgomery with retrieving the prescriptions due to his other tour duties, including assisting Minaj with costume changes during performances.
With IANS inputs