Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty’s Relationship Status: A Look Back at All Their Split Rumors
Nicki Minaj has been keeping her life pretty quiet in recent months. While the music artist is outspoken and always busy, her love life has kept her fans guessing since she married Kenneth Petty, a level 2 sex offender, in 2019. Earlier this summer, Minaj sparked separation rumors, and more rumors are swirling now. It’s not uncommon. Minaj and Petty’s relationship is controversial among her fans, to say the least. Let’s take a look back at all the times it was alleged the couple split.
When did Nicki Minaj start dating Kenneth Petty?
Nicki Minaj began dating Kenneth Petty in late 2018, though she met Petty years earlier. Petty and Minaj were both Queens locals, though she was several years younger than he was. While she rose to fame, he was incarcerated. They linked up in 2018, and despite fan concern, she married the convicted felon the following year.
Petty first spent years behind bars for rape. He later returned to jail for manslaughter. He served seven years of a 10-year sentence, according to People. Later, in 2022, he was sentenced ot house arrest in more recent years when he failed to register as a sex offender in California. Minaj’s fans were flabbergasted by her blind loyalty and interest in a man who had such serious criminal convictions attached to his name. Due to the controversy surrounding their relationship, Minaj has remained relatively quiet about their romance. Even her wedding announcement was muted when compared to her larger-than-life personality.
Split rumors started in 2020
In October 2020, Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty tied the knot. After their wedding, Minaj made quick work of adding the Petty name to her social media. That turned out to be a key indicator that things might have gone awry during the first wave of divorce rumors. The first rumors began in April 2020, when Minaj removed any mention of the Petty name from her social media profiles.
Jezebel and several other outlets noted that Minaj removed “Mrs. Petty” from both her Instagram and Twitter profiles. She also slowed down on posting about her romance and grew increasingly quiet on the platforms. Fans felt pretty confident that Minaj and Petty were through, but it turns out they were nowhere near done.
Real estate purchases and Instagram activities fueled more rumors
More rumors of an impending split arose in 2023. Minaj, once again, was the catalyst for the claims. Kenneth Petty was absent from several important events for his wife, including a festival. While fans suspected marital troubles, insiders claimed Petty was barred from traveling due to his legal issues.
While the rumor mill quieted briefly, it picked back up later in 2023, when Minaj purchased a new home in Hidden Hills, California, for $19 million. She moved in while Petty appeared to stay in their previous home in Thousand Oaks. They have since remerged their living spaces, but that hasn’t stopped rumors about Nick Minaj and Kenneth Petty’s potential split.
In 2024, Minaj fueled a new batch of rumors when she tweeted “Yes. Single…” without any context. The rumors didn’t last long; just a week later, she featured Petty on her feed, suggesting all was fine. It’s possible the tweet had nothing to do with her marriage in the first place.
This summer, rumors swirled that she and Petty had finally called it quits when she stopped following him on Instagram. Fans first noticed she was no longer following Petty in July, and she hasn’t corrected the situation. He’s still following her, but it appears his account was abandoned long ago.
No paperwork has been filed…. yet
Nicki Minaj and Kenneth Petty remain married at this time, despite all rumors of a planned divorce. The couple is just over a month away from their sixth wedding anniversary, and that could be pretty telling. While Minaj has been keeping it mostly professional on Instagram lately, she’s been known to turn up and profess her love for her man on special occasions. If that doesn’t happen in October, it’s likely that a split has happened or is imminent.
Despite all that, for now, no divorce papers have not been filed. If they do split, it could get messy. Several insiders claim Minaj opted against a prenuptial agreement when she and Petty tied the knot, meaning he could be entitled to significant assets if they do divorce. The couple shares one son. They have kept his name secret for his privacy.
