Nicki Minaj attends the Marc Jacobs Fall 2020 runway show during New York Fashion Week on February 12, 2020 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images for Marc Jacobs
Nicki Minaj will not be required to testify in the $150 million legal battle between her mother and the man responsible for the death of her father, Robert Maraj.
According to In Touch Weekly, a judge denied defendant Charles Polevich’s motion to depose Minaj, whom Polevich believes has information pertinent to disproving her mother, Carol Maraj’s, nine-figure suit against him.
However, Polevich still has up to 30 days to renew his filing to have Minaj ordered to testify, but only if he provides sufficient proof that he and his legal team attempted to contact the rap star.
Carol Maraj (L) and rapper Nicki Minaj attends the 2015 BET Awards at the Microsoft Theater on June 28, 2015 in Los Angeles, California. Frederick M. Brown/Getty Images for BET
“Defendant’s motion … to initiate a commission to the appropriate authority in the State of California so that the nonparty deposition of Ms. Minaj can take place, is denied with leave to renew within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision and order, with notice of entry, upon the submission of proof demonstrating the defendant’s efforts to obtain the cooperation of the nonparty residing out of state,” the judge said while handing down the ruling.
“In the event that the defendant is unable to furnish such proof to this Court, within thirty (30) days of the date of this decision and order, with notice of entry, the defendant shall be precluded from obtaining said discovery—to wit, the nonparty deposition of Ms. Minaj.”
Nicki Minaj attends The 2019 Met Gala Celebrating Camp: Notes on Fashion at Metropolitan Museum of Art on May 06, 2019 in New York City. Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images
News of Polevich’s request for Minaj to testify in the proceedings first surfaced in April, as he wants the rap star to be questioned about her father’s alleged history of physical and emotional abuse against her mother.
In her lawsuit, Maraj claims she was robbed of her husband’s “services, society, comfort, companionship, and consortium” as a result of Polevich 𝓀𝒾𝓁𝓁ing Robert Maraj in a hit-and-run incident in 2021. He was arrested and charged with one count of leaving the scene of an accident and another count of evidence tampering. Convicted of the charges, Polevich received one-year in prison and was ordered to pay a $5,000 fine.
Minaj has previously refused to appear for testimony, deeming Polevich’s request as “harassment” in legal documents and a ploy by the defendant to “drag the litigation on and depose a celebrity.”
Nicki Minaj onstage at the 2013 BMI R&B/Hip-Hop Awards at Hammerstein Ballroom on August 22, 2013 in New York City. Neilson Barnard/Getty Images for BMI