Nicki Minaj Defends Husband Kenneth Petty Amid Heated Exchange With Dez Bryant

Nicki Minaj and former NFL star Dez Bryant found themselves in a public feud over the weekend that quickly turned personal. The clash began when Bryant criticized Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, but soon escalated after Minaj responded and Bryant brought up her husband Kenneth Petty’s criminal history.

Nicki Minaj Claps Back at Dez Bryant Over Husband’s Past

On Monday, Minaj took to the audio platform Stationhead to defend her husband, Kenneth Petty, after Bryant highlighted Petty’s status as a registered sex offender. In her fiery remarks, Minaj also referenced Bryant’s 2012 arrest for alleged domestic violence.

“It’s starting to look like some of you men who didn’t have a father in the home want other people to not have a father in their home,” she said, as reported by AllHipHop. “It’s starting to look like some of you men whose daddy and granddaddy is the same man are projecting anger related to women being abused—all over the internet. Because psychologically, you’re defending your father.”

Minaj then drew parallels between Petty’s 1995 conviction—when he was a teenager—and Bryant’s own legal troubles. She accused Bryant of projecting trauma from his family background.

“If a man can say, after finding out his mama or sister was raped by his daddy or grandad, that he forgives both of them—what do you mean both? What did she do?” Minaj asked. “So is that why you’ve been beating her? You’re taking out what he did on your mother, who was a child—just like my husband was a child. You dumb b*tch.”

She also reiterated a previous challenge she made, offering $10 million for Petty to fight Bryant, adding: “I’mma make this n***a beat you bad, b*tch. Listen, all of this has been for entertainment purposes only. These are all alleged.”

How the Minaj–Bryant Feud Started

“How about we play a game? Every time you do a ‘Jerry Jones’ or ‘NFL’ story time, I’ll do a ‘story time’ of my own.”

She then targeted Jay-Z and Roc Nation—longtime NFL partners—intensifying the conversation.

Bryant initially tried to de-escalate by posting a video message: “Look Miss Nicki, leave me out of it, I don’t want no problems. I’m a huge fan. I hope you’re having a great day.”

However, Minaj brought up Bryant’s past arrest involving his mother, prompting Bryant to fire back by referencing Petty’s sex offender status.

Dez Bryant Issues Apology

Eventually, Bryant walked back his comments, writing on X:

“I’m not in the sphere of people crashing out on the internet. I don’t bother people—I never do. I was just posting about my son. I let the devil win that time…I apologize to the kids who follow me because I care about setting the right example more than you know.”

He concluded with a message of resilience: “By the way, whenever people bring up my past…I want everybody to stop and think for 5 minutes. You can make it through anything if you put your mind to it. No matter how big the battle is. No excuses.”