Los Angeles, Jan 4 (IANS): American rapper Nicki Minaj has been slapped with a lawsuit over alleged assault, battery and “intentional infliction of emotional distress”.
The charges have been pressed by a man who alleges the Grammy-nominated rapper struck him in the face during a confrontation, reports ‘Variety’.
In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Brandon Garrett claimed he was working as a day-to-day manager for Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 tour when Minaj (real name Onika Maraj) hit him multiple times.
As per ‘Variety’, the altercation allegedly occurred backstage at the Little Caesars Arena in Detroit on April 21 following one of Minaj’s concerts.
In a statement shared with ‘Variety’, Minaj’s lawyer, Judd Burstein, widely denied these allegations and denounced an original report of the complaint from 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 shared. “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”.
As per the lawsuit, Garrett was on his way back from an errand Minaj requested when he received a text message from her head of security, Larry Dathan. Dathan allegedly told Garrett that Minaj wanted to see him in her dressing room.
When he arrived, Garrett says eight members of Minaj’s staff were present including Dathan, another employee named Luke Montgomery and her former manager Deb Antney. Garrett states Minaj began to complain about the staff “not knowing what they are supposed to do, and who reports to who” when she turned her attention to Montgomery, asking what his position was.
“Mr. Montgomery explained that his duties entailed tasks like venue dressing room set-up, private jet set-up, hotel room set-up, quick change room refreshments, and tour bus set-up”, the complaint read. “Mr. Montgomery mentioned these duties were in addition to any requests from (Minaj) communicated by (Garrett), including food orders, drinks, personal items, baby items, and, most notably, prescriptions”.
Garrett explained he had Montgomery pick up the prescriptions because he was occupied with tour responsibilities, including assisting Minaj with quick changes during performances.