A California judge says she is closing to forcing the sale of Nicki Minaj‘s $20 million mansion—after the rapper allegedly refused to pay damages that were awarded to a former security guard who claims he was assaulted by her husband, Kenneth Petty.
In a hearing on Nov. 24, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Cindy Pánuco told lawyers for both parties that she is leaning toward a forced sale of the opulent home, but said that there is one final detail she wants to review before taking that action.
“My tentative is to grant this. I just want to make sure we’re getting it right,” she said.
The one detail required, according to Rolling Stone, is a Bank of America statement that details Minaj’s payments on her $13.3 million mortgage since October 2022, as well as the daily interest that is accrued on the debt.
Pánuco explained that she wants to review this document to ensure that a forced sale of the property will actually be able to cover the $503,000 that is owed to Minaj’s former security guard, Thomas Weidenmuller, even if the property sells for well below its market value.
“Let’s say there’s no bidder who offers the full $20 million, and it goes up for auction, and they don’t get fair market value, and it doesn’t cover everything. If it doesn’t cover what the sale is required to cover—including the judgment, in this instance—then I would use that evidence to help me to determine that,” she said.
Weidenmuller’s lawyer, Paul Saso, attempted to argue back, insisting that the sale would likely reap millions more than needed to cover the payments and insisting that they could deal with any shortfall at a later date.
However, the judge refused to back down and noted that she will not make a decision until the bank statement is revealed.
“As I understand it, that’s the only piece missing. Everything else looked good,” she said.
The judge then set a follow-up hearing for Jan. 22 so she could look over the pending paperwork and make a decision.
The latest movement in the case comes weeks after it was first revealed that Weidenmuller had asked a court to force the sale of Minaj’s Hidden Hills, CA, dwelling so that he can claim the money that is owed to him.
Weidenmuller, who worked as a security guard at one of Minaj’s shows in Germany in 2019, accused Petty of punching him in the face at the event and was later awarded more than half a million dollars in damages by a judge.
However, he claims that money still has not been paid to him—an error that Minaj, 42, has since blamed on one of her financial advisers.
So, on Oct. 6, Weidenmuller filed legal documents asking the court to order Minaj to sell her 11-bedroom, 16-bathroom dwelling in Hidden Hills, which she purchased for $19.5 million in December 2022.
In his filing, the security guard noted that the home’s $20 million value would cover Minaj and Petty’s outstanding mortgage, as well as the money that he is owed.
Weidenmuller’s legal team stated that the star has a $13.3 million mortgage lien on the property and a “$722,151 homestead exemption—together just under $14 million.”
“The property’s current fair market value is appraised at $20 million, yielding approximately $6 million in equity beyond the lien and exemption,” the filing notes. “That amount is more than sufficient to satisfy the judgment, plus accrued interest and enforcement costs.”
Lawyers for the former security guard called attention to Minaj’s extraordinary net worth, insisting that she is more than “capable” of paying him the damages that he is owed.
“Although it is regrettable that the extraordinary measure of forcing the sale of Minaj’s dwelling is required, that result is entirely the product of her intransigence in not making payment,” they stated.
“Minaj is a global music superstar, estimated to have a net worth of anywhere between $150 [million and] $190 million, and is reportedly the highest paid female rap star in the world.
“There is little doubt that she is highly capable of paying the judgment in full and, yet, she has refused to do so despite multiple written requests for payment and levies served upon several of her suspected creditors.”
Addressing the legal filing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Minaj insisted that she was unaware any money was still owed to Weidenmuller, placing the blame for the issue on her business manager.
“I have evidence that this was given to a business [manager] who never told me,” she wrote. “My lawyers AND business [managers] (old & new) are AWARE. Let’s see if they’ll speak up or if I’ll have to call them out by name. That same business [manager] STOLE from me MANY times.”
The latest legal snaffle stems from an incident on March 22, 2019, when Weidenmuller says he was physically assaulted by Petty and verbally berated by Minaj after a fan broke through a barrier, and charged onto the stage during the rapper’s performance.
The rapper allegedly became upset with the security team and told her husband about the incident.
Weidenmuller said he entered Minaj’s dressing room in an effort to console her, and was reportedly greeted by the “Starships” rapper, her husband, and two other security guards.
He claimed that he began consoling a crying Minaj, only for her to start yelling at him. He further alleged that she threw her shoe at him, before her husband sucker punched him in the jaw “without warning.”
The security guard was then taken to the doctor where he was required to have jaw surgery.
Minaj’s enormous abode in Hidden Hills currently serves as her primary residence.
The expansive dwelling comes with eight bedrooms, several bathrooms, a resort-style pool, a cabana, a terrace with sweeping views of the hills, and a separate guesthouse.
The home spans 12,000 square feet and sits in a wealthy neighborhood, where several stars reside.
Minaj previously rented a $28,000 monthly dwelling in Calabasas in 2020. She also previously rented a pad in Beverly Hills for $35,000 a month.
Minaj also once owned a $10 million, 7,000-square-foot abode with six bedrooms. It was her main residence before she picked up her Hidden Hills dwelling.
