A New York judge denied Charles Polevich’s request to depose Nicki Minaj in a $150 million lawsuit filed by her mother Carol Maraj. The judge said Polevich never proved he attempted to contact Minaj’s team about the deposition. In Touch Weekly was the first report on the ruling.
“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 ordered in June.
The judge added, “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.”
Polevich, the driver who killed Minaj’s father Robert Maraj in a 2021 hit-and-run in New York, wanted to ask the Hip-Hop star about her childhood and allegations of abuse against her dad. Carol Maraj objected to Polevich’s efforts to question Minaj.
“The plaintiff’s counsel argues that Ms. Minaj and the family should not have to be subjected to this harassment,” the court documents noted.
Carol Miraj filed her lawsuit against Polevich in 2021. She claimed Polevich only sought to question Minaj to “drag the litigation on and depose a celebrity.”
Polevich pleaded guilty to leaving the scene of an accident without reporting it and tampering with physical evidence in connection to Robert Maraj’s death. Polevich was sentenced to a year behind bars and ordered to pay a $5,000 fine in 2022.
