2024 was a chaotic year for Nicki Minaj. There was a feud with Megan Thee Stallion, an arrest in Amsterdam, a slander lawsuit against her from her own fan, a distasteful joke about the Atlantic Records staff getting laid off. 2025 is starting off rocky with a former employee suing the rapper for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Per Variety, the complaint was filed Friday (Jan. 3) in Los Angeles Superior Court by Brandon Garrett, who claims he was working as a day-to-day manager for Minaj’s Pink Friday 2 tour. He alleges she hit him several times at Detroit’s Little Caesars Arena on April 21 after one of her shows.

Minaj’s lawyer Judd Burstein told TMZ, “At this time, no complaint has been served upon Mrs. Petty, and therefore, we are unaware of the specific allegations. 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.”

Garrett says Minaj (real name Onika Tanya Maraj-Petty) requested him in her dressing room, where was with eight members of her staff and complaining about them “not knowing what they are supposed to do, and who reports to who.” She turned to an employee named Luke Montgomery and asked who he was, and Garrett explained he had Montgomery pick up the prescriptions.

Minaj allegedly became “visibly upset” and “angrily screamed” at Garrett. Garrett claims she 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 even threatened him, saying, “You just fucked up your whole life and you will never be anyone, I’ll make sure of it.”

The lawsuit claims Minaj then demanded to know what day he picked up the prescriptions and “what exact prescriptions they were.” Neither Garrett nor Montgomery could find the information. “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,” the complaint reads. Garrett also accuses Minaj of hitting him on his right wrist, leaving it in a “throbbing” condition.

Afterward, Garrett says he locked himself in a nearby restroom for multiple hours, and then received notice from Minaj’s manager Deb Atney that he would not be joining the group on the bus for the next tour stop. He went to the Detroit Police Department to see about filing a police report, but was informed he would have to appear in-person at a precinct office to make a formal report. He had already booked a flight back to Chicago and 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.”