Kenneth Petty is a convicted sex offender.
He’s also the new boyfriend of Nicki Minaj.
This doesn’t seem to be a problem for the singer, but many of her supporters have responded to Minaj going public with Petty by asking one basic question…
... WHAT THE ACTUAL F-CK, NICKI?!?!?!?
On Sunday, Minaj shared two photos of Petty on her Instagram account, making their relationship both official and very controversial in the eyes of her millions of followers.
Quoting Adele’s single "Hello" for some reason, Minaj captioned the snapshots as follows:
Did you ever make it out of that town where nothing ever happens?… it’s no secret… that the both of us… are running out of time.
She then shut down the comments on her Instagram account after garnering incessant backlash from folks who had read up on Petty’s past.
It turns out he served four years in New York state prison as a teenager after being convicted of first-degree attempted rape.
According to TMZ, the charge stemmed from a 1995 incident in which Petty tried to use a sharp object to force a woman to sleep with him.
Fast forward to 2006 and Petty was convincied of a manslaughter charge that led to seven more years behind bars.
We all make mistakes, of course, but, ummm… would anyone really classify these incidents as "mistakes?"
Yes, apparently. Minaj would do exactly that.
Responding to criticism of her relationship online yesterday, Minaj initially tried to explain away Petty’s horrible actions from years ago, prior to basically telling everyone to just STFU.
"He was 15, she was 16 … in a relationship," Nicki wrote on Instagra, as you can see below.
"But go awf, Internet. Y’all can’t run my life. Y’all can’t even run y’all own life. Thank you boo."
TMZ insiders say that Minaj and Petty know each other from Queens and actually dated way, way, way back in the day.
Nicki was 16 at the time of their first go-around as a couple and has referred to Petty as one of her very first loves.
She has been aware of Petty’s conviction for attempted rape all along and believes he’s innocent; she says the mother of Petty’s girlfriend back then didn’t approve of her daughter’s relationship and conjured up the accusation.
It’s important to remember, however:
Petty wasn’t simply accused. He was convicted and went to prison.
Many fans have also noted that Nicki’s brother, Jelani Maraj, was found guilty in November 2017 of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl.
And that Minaj has publicly supported rapper Tekashi 6ix9ine, who was sentenced to probation in October for his involvement in a sexually explicit video of a 13-year-old girl.
Talk about a toxic mix of connections, right?
As one Twitter users put it:
“I hate to say it, but after #NickiMinaj defended her brother (sex offender) and 6ix9ine (sex offender), I can’t honestly say I’m surprised to hear she’s now defending her new boyfriend- another sex offender.
"It’s really, really sad.”