Nicki Minaj has been sued for assault, battery and “intentional infliction of emotional distress” by a man who alleges the Grammy-nominated rapper struck him in the face during a confrontation.
In a complaint filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court, Brandon Garrett claims 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. 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 denies these allegations and denounces 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 writes. “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.”
According to 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 (also known as “Bz”). 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 reads. “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.
Defendant Garrett claims that Minaj then became “visibly upset” and “angrily screamed” at him. He says Minaj said things like “Are you fucking crazy having him pick up my prescription?” and “If my husband was here, he would knock out your fucking teeth.” She allegedly continued with threats, saying, “You just fucked up your whole life and you will never be anyone, I’ll make sure of it.”
Minaj then allegedly “started yelling” at Montgomery, asking what day he picked up the prescriptions and “what exact prescriptions they were.” When Montgomery said he couldn’t recall, she told him “to look through his phone” until he found it.
Garrett claims that neither he nor Montgomery could find the information Minaj was asking to see. After Montgomery allegedly offered up his cell phone to Minaj to read the messages between he and Garrett, the complaint states she approached him and “got very close to his face” while continuing to yell at him.
“At this point, [Minaj] open-handedly struck [Garrett] on the right side of his face, causing his head to swing backwards as his hat flew off his head,” per the complaint. Garrett also alleges that Minaj hit him on his right wrist, leaving it in a “throbbing” condition.
After Minaj demanded Garrett leave the room, Garrett says he locked himself in a nearby restroom for multiple hours. Garrett says he received notice from Atney that that he would not be joining the group on the bus to Minaj’s next tour stop in Chicago.
Garrett claims he took an Uber to the Detroit airport and called the Detroit Police Department to inquire about filing a police report. However, the Detroit PD officers allegedly informed him that he would need to appear in-person at a precinct office to make a formal report. By this point, Garrett says he had already booked a flight back to Chicago where he contacted the Chicago Police Department for a police escort to his hotel “because he feared for his safety and did not know if his belongings had been removed or tampered with.”
Garrett eventually filed an official report in Detroit. He is asking for punitive and exemplary damages and general damages.
