Nicki Minaj has been sued for assault, battery and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” by a man who was working for her at the time.
In the complaint filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday (3 January), Brandon Garrett alleges he was working as a day-to-day manager for the Grammy-nominated rapper on her Pink Friday 2 tour, when she struck him multiple times.
The incident is said to have taken place backstage at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit, Michigan, on 21 April after one of Minaj’s concerts.
In a statement to Variety, Minaj’s lawyer Judd Burstein denied the allegations and denounced an original report of the complaint by TMZ.
“At this time, no complaint has been served upon Mrs Petty [Minaj’s husband is Kenneth Petty], and therefore we are unaware of the specific allegations,” Bernstein 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 favour.”
In the lawsuit, Garrett claims he was called to Minaj’s (real name Onika Maraj) dressing room where she confronted him about having another tour employee, hospitality manager Luke Montgomery, collect her prescriptions in his place because he was occupied with other responsibilities.
Billboard cites the complaint as saying: “Ms [Deb] Antney [former manager] asked why Mr Montgomery was picking up prescriptions on behalf of Defendant Maraj.
“Plaintiff responded that he had Mr Montgomery pick up a prescription in the past because Defendant Maraj wanted it immediately, but Plaintiff was occupied at the venue with Defendant Maraj in the quick change room during a performance because one of Plaintiff’s job duties was assisting Defendant Maraj with dressing during performances.”
Garrett claims that Minaj became “visibly upset” as a result and “angrily screamed” at him: “Are you f***ing crazy having him pick up my prescription? You have lost your f***ing mind and if my husband was here, he would knock out your f***ing teeth. You’re a dead man walking. You just f***ed up your whole life and you will never be anyone, I’ll make sure of it.”
Minaj then allegedly started yelling at Montgomery, demanding to know what kind of prescription he had picked up and when. When he couldn’t remember, she allegedly “screamed” at him to “look through his phone until he finds it”.
As neither Montgomery nor Garrett were able to answer her questions, the lawsuit says, she then asked to see Montgomery’s phone to read the last message between him and Garrett.
Montgomery allegedly offered his phone for her to read, but instead she “got very close” to Garrett’s face while continuing to yell, he alleges.
According to the complaint, the situation escalated as Minaj “open-handedly struck Plaintiff on the right side of his face, causing his head to swing backwards as his hat flew off his head”.
He also alleges that Minaj hit him on his right wrist, which left it in a “throbbing” condition.
Garrett claims that the rapper ordered him to leave the room and that he locked himself in a nearby bathroom for several hours. He allegedly received a notice from Atney the following day that he would not be joining the tour group on Minaj’s bus for the next scheduled stop in Chicago.
The lawsuit states that Garrett took a flight to Chicago and contacted the city’s police department to file a police report and request a police escort back to his hotel because he “feared for his safety and did not know if his belongings had been removed or tampered with”.
He allegedly remained at his hotel for the next few days “because he was fearful and traumatised”, before flying back to Detroit to file a formal police report.
