Nicki Minaj’s longtime lawyer Judd Burstein dropped her “abruptly,” leaving her without representation in a $10 million legal battle with a fan, Us Weekly can exclusively report.
On November 3, a business management company, The Northstar Group, wrote a letter to the court explaining that Minaj had recently hired them.
A rep for The Northstar Group asked the court for additional time for Minaj, 42, to respond to the lawsuit brought by a fan named Tameer Peak.
The letter said Minaj needed time to “retain and onboard” a new defense lawyer following the “recent and sudden withdrawal of” her “litigation counsel.”
The Northstar Group said it became “aware of this lawsuit for the first time” last week based on information provided by Minaj’s “then-litigation counsel, Judd Burstein.”
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The rep said, “That same day, Mr. Burstein abruptly withdrew entirely from his representation of [Minaj and her company], without giving any prior notice. [Minaj and her company] intend to appear and defend themselves in this matter, and we are requesting a stay of the proceedings, including all deadlines and further motion practice, so that [Minaj and her company] may have time to find and retain new litigation counsel, have counsel review the case file, confer with their new counsel, and prepare any responsive filings in an orderly manner.”
Minaj asked for an extra 45 days to get a new lawyer to allow her to properly respond to the case.
Burstein tells Us, “After I won a dismissal of Tameer Peak’s defamation lawsuit against Nicki in New Jersey, I declined the opportunity to represent her when Peak refiled it in New York. I believe that it would be inappropriate for me to discuss the reasons why I chose to decline the representation.”
“However, I want to make clear that my decision was unrelated to any concern about the merits of Peak’s claims because I have no doubt that his Complaint is entirely frivolous and that Nicki did nothing wrong. I continue to have great affection and respect for Nicki,” Burstein added.
On his website, Burstein mentions his work on two cases involving Minaj under his “recent successes.”
In 2022, he represented Minaj in a $20 million lawsuit filed against her. The case was dropped. In 2024, Burstein defended Minaj in a separate defamation lawsuit filed against a blogger, which resulted in a gag order prohibiting the blogger from posting about the rapper.
Peak filed a defamation lawsuit against Minaj in September. He claimed the rapper “falsely accused” him of criminal conduct, stalking and mental disability. In court documents, Peak claimed Minaj made comments about him on April 22, 2024, on a Stationhead broadcast.
He claimed that she said he was “one sandwich short of a picnic” and “clearly gets a check from the government.”
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Peak previously filed a lawsuit against Minaj in 2024, according to TMZ.
In the since-dismissed lawsuit, Peak claimed he was a longtime fan who used his social media to help promote Minaj’s work.
At the time, Minaj’s lawyer, Burstein, told the outlet, “Mr. Peak has been harassing Nicki on social media for years on end to no avail.”
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Burstein added, “He has now graduated to seeking to shake her down financially with manifestly false allegations and legally frivolous claims. He will regret having gone down this disreputable road when he is forced to pay her legal fees as required by California law.”
The case was dismissed due to it being brought in the wrong court. Peak then filed his claims in New York court, where the case is currently. Minaj’s team called the claims “without merit” and said they would be “defended against promptly and vigorously.”
As Us first reported, Minaj is also dealing with a creditor attempting to convince a judge to seize the entertainer’s $20 million mansion in Los Angeles.
Thomas Weidenmuller, who claims he was assaulted by Minaj’s husband Kenneth Petty in 2019, was awarded a $500,000 default judgment against the couple.
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On October 6, Weidenmuller filed court documents asking the court to authorize the sale of Minaj’s home in Hidden Hills. He said there would be enough to pay off the mortgage and the money Minaj owes him.
Minaj addressed the situation on X on October 15. She claimed that a former business manager had failed to tell her about the lawsuit.
Minaj said, “I have evidence that this was given to a business [manager] who never told me. 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.”
