Jennifer Hough Denies Writing 1994 Letter Kenneth Petty Cites in Civil Case

Jennifer Hough is pushing back against Kenneth Petty’s claim that she changed her account of the 1994 assault, with her attorney denying that Hough wrote or signed a letter now being cited in court.

Kenneth Petty recently submitted an alleged 1994 letter as part of his effort to dismiss Hough’s ongoing civil case. According to TMZ, Petty’s filing presents the document as a letter Hough sent to the District Attorney asking for the rape charge to be dropped and describing her allegations as “half true and half false.”

Hough disputes that account through her attorney, Marjorie Mesidor, who told TMZ that her client did not write or sign the document. Mesidor also questioned the circumstances surrounding a typewritten recantation allegedly produced when Hough was 16 and said of the signature, “This is simply not her signature.”

Petty’s legal team is using the disputed letter to argue that Hough’s account changed over time and that her current civil claims should be dismissed. Hough’s side maintains that she never recanted the allegation and argues that the document does not establish what Petty says it does.

The disagreement comes more than three decades after the criminal case. Petty was convicted of attempted rape in 1995 in connection with Hough’s allegation and served roughly four years in prison, a conviction that also required him to register as a sex offender.

Hough filed a federal civil lawsuit in 2021 accusing Petty of harassment, witness intimidation and emotional distress tied to alleged efforts to pressure her into changing her story. Nicki Minaj, Petty’s wife, was originally named in the case, but Hough voluntarily dismissed her claims against Minaj without prejudice in January 2022 while the case against Petty continued.

The disputed 1994 letter is now at the center of Petty’s latest attempt to end the lawsuit. The court has not ruled that the document is authentic, and Hough’s attorney is contesting it directly, leaving the question of what weight it carries for the civil case up to the judge.